Jurors agree with insanity plea

A Russellville man charged with capital murder in the brutal stabbing death of his cousin was found not guilty on Wednesday following a mental health hearing.

Andres Pascual Francisco, 27, 306 South Carroll Ave., was found not guilty by reason of insanity by Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey.

The verdict came after a two-hour long hearing Wednesday morning to determine Francisco’s mental health since he entered an insanity plea shortly after his indictment for the stabbing death of 20-year-old Francisco Velasquez on July 15, 2010.

According to testimony from Velasquez’s father, Horlando Velasquez, he had gotten home from work late that night and had already gone to bed when he heard a loud knock at the door. He said he heard the voice of his son, but it sounded different and he knew something was wrong.

Velasquez said when he opened the door, his son collapsed into his arms and was bleeding heavily from several stab wounds.

“My son said to me, ‘Andres, Andres, Andres did this to me,’” Velasquez said. “Those were the only words he said.”

Velasquez eventually died from what autopsy reports showed to be 14 different stab wounds to his face, neck, chest, abdomen, back and hands.

According to testimony from Russellville Police investigator Lt. Scotty Lowery, the stabbing took place in a vehicle that was found about one block from the Velasquez residence.

Lowery said officers on the scene discovered a bloody knife in the vehicle near the passenger’s seat, a large amount of blood on the passenger’s side door and blood spattered throughout the vehicle.

When Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing asked Lowery if the attack appeared to have been brought on by some type of provocation, Lowery shook his head.

“We found no physical explanation as to why the attack occurred,” Lowery said. “No other weapon was found except the knife and all the blood tested appeared to be the victim’s blood.”

During the hearing, defense attorneys Rebecca Thomason and Jamie Sumerel called Chicago psychiatrist Dr. John Matthew Fabian to testify after interviewing Francisco over a several day period at the Franklin County Jail, where he has been in custody since the incident.

According to testimony during the hearing, Francisco has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and severe depression by six different medical facilities since he was 21 years old.

Fabian said that during the interview process, he discovered Francisco’s paranoid delusions had caused him to “see” a person named Guillermo, who told him Velasquez was going to kill him.

Fabian and Thomason also discussed several other incidents over the past six years that have caused Francisco to act in a violent manner either towards himself or towards other people.

Fabian talked about a suicide attempt where Francisco drank gasoline, poured it on himself and said he believed if he set himself on fire that he would be filled with the Holy Ghost.

He also talked about a time when Francisco cut off his own finger because he believed it to be possessed.

“He was having paranoid delusions where the evil spirits said he would be ok if he cut his pinkie finger off,” Fabian said.

He continued to say that Francisco cut that finger off with gardening shears and that he still attempts to dig down past his knuckle to get out the rest of the bone because he thinks he hears the voices because all of the finger wasn’t removed.

“He has lost contact with reality,” Fabian said.

He added that even though he has been on anti-psychotic medication since being incarcerated, he still has hallucinations and hears voices.

Fabian concluded by saying that these paranoid delusions caused Francisco to not understand what he was doing the night the stabbing took place.

“My opinion with reasonable psychological certainty is that he did not know what he was doing and he couldn’t appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions,” Fabian said. “He acted based on psychosis and it impaired his ability to know right from wrong.”

Fabian agreed that Francisco poses a real threat to himself and to the community and that he shouldn’t be released.

Rushing said after speaking with the victim’s family and having them actively involved in the process, the state made the decision to stipulate to the insanity defense.

Once testimony concluded, Judge Dempsey ordered that Francisco become a ward of the Alabama Department of Mental Health and be transferred to Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa as soon as a bed became available.

“We are used to just about every defendant charged with a serious criminal act trying to file an insanity defense, and I consider myself to be very skeptical when it comes to believing someone who claims that,” Rushing said, “but in this case, there was a mountain of evidence from the time Mr. Francisco was 21 until this crime occurred when he was 26 to show that he had the grounds to file this type of a defense.

“He has a total of 26 different commitments, 10 that were involuntary commitments, in that time frame. He has documented behavior that would suggest he wasn’t thinking in his right mind.

“His paranoid delusions cause him to act out in violence and we believe he needed to be in a secure mental facility where he can’t be of any further harm to himself or to others.”

Thomason said she was glad her client would get the help he needed.

“I am thankful Mr. Francisco will be institutionalized in a facility for the rest of his life because I believe that is what he needs,” Thomason said. “I think it is a more appropriate place for him to be than to be sitting on death row incurring more legal costs from appeals and incarcerations fees for the state.

“It is a tragedy that this mental illness resulted in the death of one person and the extreme emotional distress and pain of family members on both sides. We will continue to remember the families who are grieving this loss.”