Delusional serial stowaway is unfit for trial, judge rules
A ‘‘serial stowaway’’ accused of sneaking on to a jet in Chicago and flying to London without a ticket is unfit to stand trial, an Illinois judge has ruled after considering evaluations from two doctors.
Marilyn Hartman, 66, will be transferred from Cook County Jail to a state mental health facility in the hope that with treatment, she will be able to stand trial within a year.
Hartman faces felony charges, including burglary, after a January incident in which she allegedly got past security at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, boarded a jet and flew to London’s Heathrow Airport without a ticket, after failing the previous day to board a flight to Connecticut.
After being returned to Chicago, charged and released on bond, she was arrested again after she was spotted at O’Hare in violation of a judge’s order barring her from the airport.
In recent weeks, experts had found that Hartman exhibited signs of delusions and believed she was being persecuted, Cook County Judge Maura Slattery Boyle said before ordering Hartman into the custody of the state Department of Human Services.
‘‘Although she presented in a relatively stable mental state . . . her psychological stability is intermittent and appears to fluctuate from day to day,’’ Assistant State’s Attorney Kimellen Chamberlain said, referring to one doctor’s determination.
The doctor further described Hartman as ‘‘manifesting a psychotic thought process’’, and said that despite her evident intelligence, she would not be able to adequately assist her defence lawyer in court proceedings.
Chamberlain also revealed that while Hartman was undergoing evaluation at the Cook County Jail’s medical facility, doctors observed her trying to get out.
The second doctor found that Hartman showed signs of a ‘‘major psychotic illness’’, and described her stowaway attempts as ‘‘a pattern of pervasive and maladaptive behaviours’’ driven by stress and reinforced by ‘‘misinterpretations of the world around her’’.
Hartman sought media attention for her actions, and ‘‘the attention she gets from the behaviour only seems to perpetuate it’’, the doctor said.
Hartman has a long history of trying to sneak on to planes, and has stowed away on more than 20 commercial flights since 2014.
A judge in January ordered testing to evaluate her sanity and fitness for trial.
Hartman’s lawyer Parle RoeTaylor told reporters that she was disappointed with the judge’s decision, saying Hartman had shown ‘‘real progress’’ since a 2016 arrest.
‘‘She had an apartment, she was beginning to start an independent life, she was no longer dealing with issues of homelessness,’’ she said. ‘‘This is a step toward treatment, but it’s not ideal for her situation.’’
Roe-Taylor said the doctors who examined her this year were the same experts who declared her fit to stand trial in 2015, when she faced misdemeanour trespassing charges. ‘‘It was their conclusion that she is different this time as opposed to when they saw her before.’’