Insanity defense planned for gunman

Incident was a result of his addiction to drugs, man says

Timothy Dillon took a swig of scotch, held a revolver to his head and said he was ready to die. A friend called 911 as Dillon fired rounds in the floor of his West Boynton home on the afternoon of Aug. 17, 2013.

There was a long standoff with a SWAT team, until Dillon stepped outside his front door, allegedly pointed his gun at two sheriff ’s deputies and taunted them to “get this over with.” Seconds later, a deputy fired four rounds from his rifle, hitting Dillon once in the right shoulder and dropping him to the ground.

Today Dillon says he’s thankful to be alive but continues to face three felony charges and a trial. The 47-year-old businessman’s defense: Temporary insanity caused the “suicide by cop” incident and his use of firearms. This so-called “brief psychotic disorder” came about as a result of Dillon’s struggle to be free of an addiction to painkillers, which included a reliance on marijuana, his lawyers say.

A married father of two, Dillon already has managed to avoid prison on a federal weapons possession charge tied to the episode.

Senior U.S. District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp last year concluded Dillon shouldn’t be locked up because he had no criminal history and was “totally out of his mind” during the violence.

“I don’t see anything about this case that warrants incarceration,” the judge said, acknowledging that Dillon was using marijuana only as an alternative to the “far more dangerous” addictive drugs.

While Dillon cried with relief — he expected to be sent away to prison for years — the operator of a wholesale poultry company in Boynton Beach now must fight the state charges punishable by up to 45 years in prison.

Dillon’s attorneys say he should be acquitted because his actions were a result of delusions caused by a “rage-based depression.”

In pleadings, the attorneys explained Dillon’s anger and despair was over a doctor’s refusal to help him withdraw from an addiction to prescription narcotics — drugs he was taking because of pain from car accident injuries.

Dillon “believed he had no alternative

but to kill himself,” attorney Richard Lubin wrote to the court, revealing plans to call a Fort Lauderdale psychologist to explain it to a jury.

Because of the forthcoming insanity defense, prosecutors want their own expert to render an opinion. So Dillon will be examined, under court order, by a Coral Springs psychologist at the state’s expense.

This is not an argument over whether Dillon is mentally competent to stand trial — he is. It’s about whether he was insane at the time the crimes were committed, providing a legal justification for the offenses.

Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley on Wednesday pushed back the start of the trial from this month to September. Dillon faces two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, and one count of shooting into a building.

Prosecutors, citing a policy of not speaking about active cases, would not comment.

But former Broward prosecutor-turned-criminal defense attorney Michael D. Leader said the insanity defense is always a difficult undertaking because it carries high standards.

“The insanity defense is incredibly difficult to use effectively,” Leader said. “Essentially, the defendant would have to admit to the crime, and his or her criminal attorney would have to prove that the defendant was insane at the time.”

Under state law, defense attorneys have the burden of proving to the jury with “clear and convincing evidence” that the defendant wasn’t sane when the crime happened. This follows the “M’Naghten” rule, named after a delusional man who tried to assassinate England’s prime minister in 1843.

Florida law says everyone is presumed to be sane. So to prove insanity, the defendant must have had a “mental infirmity, disease, or defect” and as a result didn’t know “what he or she was doing or its consequences” — or the defendant knew what he or she was doing but didn’t know it was wrong.

“This ultimately comes down to a battle of experts,” said Leader, who is not connected to the Dillon case but has used the defense for clients.

Dillon also faces a charge of resisting an officer with violence over an incident that allegedly happened at the Palm Beach County Jail five days after his arrest.

He’s accused of trying to bite a corrections deputy and refusing orders to enter his cell after a visit to the jail infirmary, according to a report. Dillon’s lawyers say he was beaten by the officers, and the episode was recorded on surveillance video.

While both cases are pending, Dillon is serving a federal sentence of three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of possessing a firearm while being an addict or unlawful user of a controlled substance.

After the shooting, a blood sample taken from Dillon at the hospital showed the chemicals found in marijuana and cocaine, along with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal driving limit.

At a Feb. 5, 2016 hearing, Dillon told Judge Ryskamp that he had tried to wean himself off the pain pills by smoking marijuana daily and drinking heavily.

Citing the “very unusual circumstances” of the case, the judge rejected prosecutors’ recommendation for nearly five years in prison. He imposed the probation term, and ordered Dillon to undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment, and pay a $10,000 fine.

The judge also noted Dillon legally owned his firearms, including antiques from the Civil War and World War II, which were in the home during the confrontation with the deputies.

Dillon has since given up the arsenal. Records show state prosecutors last year agreed to a defense request for the sheriff ’s office to release 41 weapons — confiscated from Dillon — to a Delray Beach gun store for sale or auction.

Dillon also has said he no longer abuses drugs and instead practices yoga to manage his chronic pain.

His ordeal began after road crashes in 2008 and 2010 left him with back and neck injuries. After surgery failed to help, he became addicted to oxycodone and other pain pills. And when that didn’t help he said he turned to pot and boozing, but hated the feeling of failing his loved ones and friends.

It all came to a head on the day nearly four years ago when Dillon paced the floor of his bedroom with a gun and appeared suicidal. His wife then alerted Dillon’s best friend, who came to the home in the Bristol Lakes development.

With his finger on the trigger, Dillon reportedly said, “it’s time to check out.”

The friend was able to get the gun away, but soon Dillon was holding a second handgun and firing it into the floor, records show. A neighbor arrived and the friend called 911 and was able to remove the second gun.

But Dillon then opened a safe and took out a third gun, prompting the friend and neighbor to leave the home and greet deputies outside.

Over the next five hours, authorities evacuated nearby homes on the 7000 block of Brunswick Circle and tried to negotiate with Dillon. At one point, Dillon emerged, shot a pickup truck in his driveway, and again barricaded himself inside. Deputies also reported hearing numerous gunshots from inside the home.

Dillon’s attorneys have said recordings of the negotiations between deputies and Dillon reveal he repeatedly begged them to kill him.

After Dillon was shot, he berated the deputies for failing to “get the job done.”

At his federal sentencing hearing, Dillon told Judge Ryskamp he felt “foolish and humiliated” about what he did.

Dillon denied intentionally pointing his gun at the deputies, and said he was grateful that no one else was hurt in the ordeal.

“It could have been so much worse,” Dillon testified. “Had it been otherwise, I would never have forgiven myself.”

Dillon