Butler v. State

Pope, Presiding Judge.

In 1980, Mary Adams Butler, who is a paranoid schizophrenic, was indicted for murdering a Decatur County Deputy Sheriff. At the time of the murder, the deputy was attempting to take Butler to a mental hospital pursuant to an emergency insanity order issued by the probate court. After entering a special plea of insanity, Butler was committed to the custody of the Department of Human Resources until the time it was determined she was competent to stand trial. Following a hearing in 1983, the Decatur County Superior Court made such a determination, and thereafter, a jury,…