Chief
06-27-2007, 06:23 AM
http://columbian.com/news/localNews/06262007news158804.cfm
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
By STEPHANIE RICE and KELLY ADAMS, Columbian staff writers
A judge ruled Tuesday that David B. Sullivan was insane last year when he walked into a McDonald’s restaurant and fatally stabbed Anna E. Svidersky, a Fort Vancouver High School student he did not know who was taking a break from her weeknight shift.
Clark County Superior Court Judge John Nichols found Sullivan not guilty of first-degree murder by reason of insanity and ordered him committed indefinitely to a mental hospital.
The state’s definition of insanity is narrow; Tuesday’s ruling marked the first time since 1999 a Clark County murder defendant met the standard.
On July 3, Nichols will sign final orders to transfer Sullivan from th e Clark County Jail to Western State Hospital, near Tacoma.
The defendant’s father was in court Tuesday.
Michael Sullivan said afterward that he and his family felt sorry for the Sviderskys but felt a hospital, and not prison, would be the best place for their son.
The Sviderskys were not in court.
**SCHNIPP**
I cannot say I am surprized by this ruling. I can only hope they put him away, this time for good. Sullivan ought never be released, and I hope under the Law that if he is ever found competent, that he can then go to trial for this horrible crime.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
By STEPHANIE RICE and KELLY ADAMS, Columbian staff writers
A judge ruled Tuesday that David B. Sullivan was insane last year when he walked into a McDonald’s restaurant and fatally stabbed Anna E. Svidersky, a Fort Vancouver High School student he did not know who was taking a break from her weeknight shift.
Clark County Superior Court Judge John Nichols found Sullivan not guilty of first-degree murder by reason of insanity and ordered him committed indefinitely to a mental hospital.
The state’s definition of insanity is narrow; Tuesday’s ruling marked the first time since 1999 a Clark County murder defendant met the standard.
On July 3, Nichols will sign final orders to transfer Sullivan from th e Clark County Jail to Western State Hospital, near Tacoma.
The defendant’s father was in court Tuesday.
Michael Sullivan said afterward that he and his family felt sorry for the Sviderskys but felt a hospital, and not prison, would be the best place for their son.
The Sviderskys were not in court.
**SCHNIPP**
I cannot say I am surprized by this ruling. I can only hope they put him away, this time for good. Sullivan ought never be released, and I hope under the Law that if he is ever found competent, that he can then go to trial for this horrible crime.