By James Halpin
The Citizens’ Voice
WILKES-BARRE, Penn. — Citing an extensive history of delinquency, behavioral issues and mental health problems, a county judge has ruled a Nanticoke teen accused of hitting a man with a brick and stealing an ambulance will stand trial as an adult.
In an 18-page opinion distributed Tuesday, Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley ruled Destiny McNeil, now 18, will stand trial as an adult on aggravated assault and theft charges alleging she hit a man on the back of the neck with a brick before stealing an ambulance parked on East State Street in Nanticoke in September while its crew was inside a home helping a patient.
Her attorneys sought to have the case tried in juvenile court, arguing that she was hospitalized the day before the theft because she was “experiencing bizarre hallucinations, hearing voices and engaging in unsafe behaviors.”
Prosecutors, however, fought to try McNeil, a repeat offender with a history of disciplinary issues, as an adult.
In her ruling, Gartley noted that McNeil’s actions endangered the community and that she was able to describe her actions “articulately and clearly” to police after being caught.
“The defendant has a long history of mental health treatment and various diagnosis, ongoing criminal behavior, school issues, placement write-ups all demonstrating a continued threat to the community and the public that she will engage in behavior similar in nature in the future,” Gartley wrote.
During a hearing last month, Dr. Matthew A. Berger testified for the defense that McNeil, who has paranoid schizophrenia, should remain in the juvenile system so she could get the best treatment options. However, he was unfamiliar with the treatment options in either the adult or juvenile systems, the judge noted in her opinion.
But a prosecution expert psychologist, Steven E. Samuel, testified that he while agreed McNeil suffers from paranoid schizophrenia — which can be treated by medication, her anti-social personality disorder can not be treated. That, combined with her psychotic symptoms, puts her at high risk of re-offending, he testified.
Samuel also argued there was not adequate time to properly treat McNeil in the juvenile system and that State Correctional Institution Muncy offers a program for youthful offenders that could help.
Gartley’s opinion notes that McNeil has a history of juvenile delinquency including offenses of arson, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, simple assault and harassment. McNeil has been treated at a number of facilities, the judge wrote, “all to no avail.”
Despite all McNeil’s prior treatment, she is still accused of sneaking into a garage and bashing an unsuspecting man on the back of the neck with a brick before stealing an ambulance, Gartley wrote. Once in the vehicle, McNeil is accused of speeding erratically, hitting parked cars in a neighborhood crowded with children and leading officers on a chase before police eventually forced her off the road in the foothills of Giant’s Despair in Laurel Run, according to the judge.
The judge found McNeil, who is now an adult, deserves to be tried as one.
“The dispositional alternatives offered under the juvenile system, just over two years, are not sufficient to provide the long term supervision that is required by the defendant that will provide the necessary rehabilitation,” Gartley wrote.
No trial date has been set.
Copyright 2016 The Citizens’ Voice