Judge declares ‘serial stowaway’ unfit for trial
CHICAGO » Awomandubbed a “serial stowaway” for repeatedly trying to sneak onto commercial jets without a ticket has been ruled unfit for trial, a judge ruled Thursday.
Cook County JudgeMaura Slattery Boyle ordered Marilyn Hartman, 66, to be sent to a secured mental health facility in Elgin, near Chicago. The ruling comes after psychologists for the defense and prosecution recommended Hartman undergo mental health treatment.
Hartmanhas beennabbed in andnear airportsdozens of times andmade it ontoplanes half a dozen times. She recently made it into the air on a flight from Chicago to London and was subsequently charged with felony criminal trespass and felony burglary.
Portions of Hartman’s mental evaluations read aloud in court Thursday includeda long listofhermental health problems. Psychologist ChristopherCooperdescribed Hartman as an “intelligent woman” and said she understands the charges against her. But, he said, Hartman suffers frommajordepression, delusions she is being persecuted and a “preoccupation with media attention.”
Hartman’s mental stability was “intermittent and appears to fluctuate day to day,” Cooper said.
Prosecutors saidHartman tried to walk out of an interview roomwhen shewas left unattended during an evaluation and was seen trying to open locked doors at a jail health facility.
Hartman’s public defender, Parle Roe-Taylor, has argued thatHartman doesn’t belong in jail because she isn’t violent and hasn’t demonstrated she’s a harm to herself.
Hartmanwill be evaluated every 30 days to see if she is deemed fit for trial. If so, her criminal proceedingswill resume. If she’s not restored to mental fitness within a year she could be found not guilty by reason of insanity.