Cooper v. State

Clarke, Justice.

Henry Cooper was tried in Fulton Superior Court for two counts of aggravated assault with intent to rape, kidnapping, and rape. He was found guilty but mentally ill of aggravated assault with intent to rape of Rita O’Brien and of the kidnapping and rape of Maria Johnson. He also was found guilty of simple battery of Debra Brown.1

Cooper, who was twenty-three years old at the time of the first assault charged, had been exhibiting signs of mental illness since the twelfth grade. During the intervening years he had numerous hospital admissions and was on medication. At the time of…