Accused Beth Israel arsonist Spencer Pittman will undergo a psychiatric examination to see if he is mentally competent to stand trial.
Pittman (allegedly) torched the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue on Old Canton Road in the early morning hours of January 10. The crime stunned Mississippi and made national headlines. A federal grand jury indicted Pittman for arson, damage to religious property, and use of fire to commit a felony after he allegedly torched Beth Israel Congregation at 3 AM on January 10. The Court denied bond for Pittman.
The defendant submitted a motion for a psychiatric examination August 20. The motion argues:
Defense counsel and other employees for the Office of the Federal Public Defender have met with or spoken with the defendant since being appointed on this matter. Defense counsel believes that the defendant may currently be suffering from an undefined mental disease. As such, the defense counsel believes this undefined mental disease makes the defendant unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or participate in possible plea negotiations nor accept any current plea offer made by the Government in this matter.
Pittman asked the Court to order a competency evaluation for himself. Magistrate LeKeysha Greer-Isaac obliged and ordered the evaluation for Pittman. The evaluation will be conducted at a federal facility. A report will be filed with the Court.
The accused arsonist is scheduled to go to trial on October 5.
The charge of damage to religious property carries a maximum penalty of 20 years or less in prison and/or a maximum fine of $20,000 while the charge of use of fire to commit a felony carries a maximum penalty of a prison sentence of 10 years and/or a maximum fine of $250,000. Pittman faces a prison sentence of 5-20 years and/or a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of arson.
Synopsis of Case
Stephen Spencer Pittman allegedly torched Beth Israel Congregation at 3 AM January 10. The fire burned up the library, destroying two Torahs, and offices. Beth Israel is at 5135 Old Canton Road and was built in 1967.
The FBI arrested Pittman later that day and charged him with arson. An FBI Special Agent's affidavit said Pittman allegedly walked into the building with a gas container. Pittman drove from his Madison home, stopped at Mac's Gas in Ridgeland to fill up a gas container, and continued on to Beth Israel. He completely covered his face and removed his license plate so as to prevent identification.
Once at Beth Israel, Pittman inexplicably texted his father a picture of the rear of Beth Israel and messages such as "There's a furnace in the back," "Btw my plate is off," "Hoodie is on", and "they have the best cameras."
The father begged his son to come home but Spencer Pittman replied he "was due for a home run" and "I did my research." Later that morning, Pittman's father saw he had burns on his hands, ankles, and face. The father confronted his son, who promptly confessed.
The accused arsonist said he broke open a window at Beth Israel, went inside, and set it in fire. Pittman laughed as he told the story to his father, bragging "he finally got them." The little firebug called Beth Israel the "synagogue of Satan", a common trope among anti-Semites.
Pittman's father turned him into the police.
The federal grand jury indicted him several days later for arson. Pittman faces between 5 and 20 years in prison and/or a fine of $250,000 or less if convicted.
A Hinds County grand jury indicted him for arson within 48 hours of the attack as well. The indictment seeks an enhancement since the building burned was a place of worship. The enhancement will double the maximum penalty from 30 to 60 years in prison.
26 comments:
I do believe he suffers from mental illness but he’s not insane. He knew what he was doing and should be held accountable. How ever if his rich parents who had to know something was wrong with there son and didn’t get him the help he desperately needed could had avoided all of this
I'm not an attorney or forensic psychologist (or in this boy's case a dermatologist) and don't play one on TV, but does not the multi-step planning process and call to his father indicate sound mind and body?
He is mentally sound, he knew what he was doing. Anything to lessen the sentence
I do play one on TV and I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night and you are correct.
Mentally ill people often are cunning and plan their activities. The fact that Pitman took steps to conceal his identity means very little in determining whether he currently is mentally competent to stand trial.
I feel sorry for his family.
Being crazy or not shouldn’t make any difference to the punishment. Clearly, crazies shouldn’t roam free anymore than criminals should roam free. We deserve better.
He is just as crazy as Talib, Omar, AOC, Hakeem Jeffries, and the other anti-Semites in Congress.
A shame that the fire didn't handle this for society. Hope he enjoys his little round trip before he is hopefully tried and convicted.
He is an IDIOT, but not insane. There are tens of thousands like him in our state.
FYI, this is a competency to stand trial, not whether he was insane at the time the crime (alleged) was committed. This one evaluates whether he can legally stand trial in October. Two different things. He could be found to have been perfectly sane at the time the act was committed but still be incompetent to stand trial based on the deterioration of his mental health. It is a very difficult standard to meet, and I seriously doubt he will be found incompetent to stand trial.
This looked like psychosis from day 1 whether he's schizophrenic or bipolar or something else. What took them so long?
Might be trying to set up grounds for a continuance, given that his trial date is only a little more than a month away
You have ZERO idea of what you're even talking about.
Religious and political violence, death, and destruction have been happening for thousands of years people......this was not related to a mental "illness".....this is merely a lawyer's dodge which is SOP for a defense.
I drive by quite a bit, and it doesn't seem like they are doing much work. It's kind of hard to see through the fence they have up, but I'm wondering if they are rebuilding or maybe relocating? I also feel sorry for the parents; it's very difficult to just “seek help” and address psychological problems. That field of medicine is light-years behind other fields. It can be especially challenging if a person refuses treatment. It seems like a lot of people on this board have never been through this experience.
Crazy? Yes. Criminally insane? Absolutely Not! Most people in prison are crazy.
As we get closer to the World Series of baseball, I'd like to ask what this boy's batting average was up at Coahoma Junior College.
His family had to know he needed help
Yes he’s guilty and he will be held accountable. It’s so sad his family didn’t get him help sooner
America is an open air insane asylum based on your commentary.
You will either be shocked to learn (or ignorant to the fact) that there is an extreme anti-Jewish wing on several right-leaning online podcasts, which most of these folks this age listen to. This guy was a baseball player at a community college; he isn't some fictional left-wing character you want him to be.
"Help" is called the Department of Correction.....not a hospital.
Here is how it should go. Convict him as "Crazy but still guilty," Put him in prison until he cures himself of craziness, which should take a day or two at the most once he sees the inside of a prison. Once he "cures" himself, he can begin serving his sentence.
That's what restoring competency to proceed is, which is ultimately a delay tactic as well, and SOP for this type of thing.
Have to agree with 5:50. I was shocked to learn that a few Broadmoor Ole Miss frat boys my son grew up with are so anti Semite. I had no idea that it was cool to hate Jews now, but it seems several right leaning young men are very much in that camp.
Tucker Carlson, in his desperate drive to carve his own lane out of the political highway, seems antisemite, anti Trump and just a bogus carnie barker, selling tickets to a fake freak show. He is the freak show.
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