SENTENCED
Then 84-year-old retired Marine Delbert Hanshaw confronted him with a gun and shot him.
Catoosa County sheriff’s deputies found Fitzharris in his newly purchased Jaguar suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper right arm, reports show.
Fitzharris’ activities that day were also traced to an incident in East Ridge, Tennessee, approximately 45 minutes before the home invasion, in which he allegedly came close to running over two police officers in a hotel parking lot.
In his initial court appearance following the incidents, Fitzharris, who practice law in Hamilton County, Tennessee, claimed several members of the Chattanooga court scene, including judges and attorneys, were “out to hurt him.”
Shortly thereafter, Fitzharris was found to be not competent enough to stand trial.
On Friday, during sentencing, Judge Van Pelt ordered that Fitzharris must enter in impatient mental health facility and comply with all doctor’s orders to get the treatment he needs.
The court also took into consideration the two-plus years Fitzharris has already served either in jail or in mental health treatment facilities.
Fitzharris’ attorney Mccracken Poston, Assistant District Attorney Alan Nor- ton, and Judge Van Pelt seemed to be in agreement that mental health treatment was the best course of punishment for Fitzharris.
Poston says the once-promising attorney’s case was a tricky one.
“This case was very challenging,” Poston said. “At first, trying to convince the state that the defendant’s condition was organic and not the effect of a drug episode was difficult. It was apparent from the outset that he was suffering from very serious psychological problems.”
During the process, Poston says he convinced the district attorney to agree to a furlough to allow Fitzharris’ parents to remove him from the jail and take him to a treatment facility in East Tennessee.
“His parents got him to the front door of the place (facility) and he demanded to be brought right back to the Catoosa County jail,” Poston said.
During the sentencing, Fitzharris apologized to the victims.
Poston said that the outcome included understanding from all sides involved.
“I thought it was a good example of a lawyer, a prosecutor, the victims, the other witnesses and the judge all being in agreement that incarceration would not be an appropriate response considering the defendant’s mental state,” Poston said.