Minden Press-Herald

Mary Nguyen, who was charged with criminal mischief and theft over $500 in 2007 and assault on a police officer with a firearm in 2008, has been behind bars in Claiborne Parish since the 2008 incident.

"This should have been worked out a long time ago," said Patsy "Patty" Helms, Nguyen's aunt, during a peaceful protest outside the Claiborne Parish Courthouse. "It's been too long and somebody just needs to stand up for her. This needs to be resolved."

According to a psychological assessment rendered in April 2010, the doctor refers to a police report by the Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Office, which states that on January 10, 2008, Nguyen barricaded herself in her home after a bail bonds agent came to her home to explain that if she got into trouble her bond would be revoked. The apparent reason for the agent's visit was because her bond had been revoked.

When she was told her bond would be revoked, she reportedly got the shotgun and some shells and went to a building behind the residence and would not come out. Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Deputies went to the home and Det. Randy Smith spoke to Nguyen before she barricaded herself in the building.

When he introduced himself, she reportedly went back into the building where reports say Smith observed her in the building grabbing the shotgun by the barrel and raising it.

An entry team from Lincoln Parish arrived on scene to assist and took Nguyen into custody and the shotgun was collected and logged into evidence.

In 2007, she was arrested by Homer Police on the criminal mischief and theft charges when they learned she'd allegedly sprayed inflammatory graffiti on "David Newell District Attorney" t-shirts that were stolen and distributed on several streets in Homer, around the Claiborne Parish Courthouse and at least one other known location in the parish. There was a dispute as to whether Newell had paid for the t-shirts, officials said.

Later in 2008, Second Judicial District Judge Jenifer Clason ordered Nguyen to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether she was mentally competent for trial on the assault charge. According to a letter from George Seiden, M.D., Nguyen refused to participate in the interview for the sanity hearing, saying she believed the proceedings "had something to do with an inheritance that was supposed to be passed down through her family and various people who wanted to label her in order to be able to take control of the inheritance.

"She also made a statement to the effect that this has something to do with the KKK.," the letter continued.

It was also the opinion of Medical Neuropsychologist S. Webb Sentell that Nguyen was not fit to stand trial on the assault charges and recommended inpatient psychiatric treatment.

On Sept. 15, 2008, Clason ordered her committed to the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System (ELMHS) – Forensic Division in East Feliciana Parish, for "custody, care and treatment as the law describes and to await further orders from this court."

On April 14, 2009, she was admitted to ELMHS, and after 18 months of psychiatric treatment with medication, she was deemed competent to stand trial.

At the time of her admission to the mental hospital, she had been diagnosed with chronic paranoid schizophrenia and was "delusional," according to court records.

Nguyen's daughters say before their mother's "breakdown" Nguyen was a wonderful person. They describe her as a wonderful mother, who was there for her children. She drove a school bus for the Claiborne Parish School System for seven years. Her daughters are both honor students.

"I couldn't ask for a better mother," Katherine Nguyen, Mary's daughter said. "I wouldn't be the person I am today without my mom. She's missed a lot of our lives and we needed her."

Her youngest daughter, Kallie, said almost the same thing.

"A lot of people don't know what she really had to go through," she tearfully said at the protest. "She's a good person. I couldn't ask for better."

And while family members understand Nguyen was sent to a mental health facility for treatment, they say it's time to put some closure on the case and don't understand what's taking so long.

"They've done nothing for her on her case knowing she's very sick," Mary Foster, Nguyen's mother said. "I'm very upset with the justice system."

Kathy Mills, Nguyen's aunt, reiterated Foster's statement saying, "We all knew she was sick and she was so mentally ill she didn't know what she was doing and her mother couldn't control her."

Assistant District Attorney Jim Hatch, who is handling the case, explained that when a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, the case comes to a standstill.

"If she is incompetent to stand trial, the case is suspended until such time as she could be declared competent," he said.

In this case, she was deemed competent following psychiatric treatment.

She was discharged from ELMHS on Sept. 22, 2010, when she was returned to the custody of Claiborne authorities. Within the next few months, hearings with the Sanity Commission were concluded, when she was officially deemed competent to stand trial.

However, there are other circumstances, Hatch said, that could also be cause for holding up on Nguyen going to trial. He said when a person is arrested and appears in court for their first hearing, the judge assigned to the case is the one that will follow the case all the way through.

In Claiborne Parish, there are trial "sessions" where each judge has a set period of time to hear cases that are set for trial. There are six trial "sessions" this year, and Clason has four of those.

Also, Hatch said, it took a while to get Dr. Michael Blue, psychiatrist, to come to Claiborne Parish to testify in the Sanity Hearing, saying he had to be subpoenaed.

In 2011, Nguyen's case came up for trial several times, but the matter was passed on several occasions.

Today, Nguyen still sits in a jail cell at the Claiborne Parish Women's Jail awaiting trial. Paul Garner is the attorney appointed to her from the Indigent Defender Board.

(Editor's Note: Michelle Bates is editor of the Guardian Journal of Homer. This article was reprinted with permission.)