Oregon Schizophrenic Set Free After Found to be Unfit to Stand Trial
A schizophrenic accused of opening fire on three people before and during a 30-hour standoff with Washington County police went free last month after a judge openly criticized the Oregon State Hospital method of preparing mentally unfit defendants for trial.
Man Opened Fire Three Times in 30-Hour Standoff
Ian Tunger (58) of Hillsboro was charged with shooting a medical transport worker who had arrived at his home in August 2021 to take him to hospital because of his deteriorating mental state.
Evidence was that Tunger’s sister, his legal guardian, arranged for a private transportation company to take her brother to hospital. When driver Steven Jorgensen arrived, he went to the second-floor bedroom and found Tunger lying on a bed covered with a blanket. Tunger yelled at him to ‘get out.’
Tunger fired a gun and, according to Hillsboro police three pistols and ammunition were later recovered from the bedroom.
A tactical team from Washington County responded to get Tunger to leave the property. During the 30-hour standoff, Tunger would occasionally appear at the window holding two firearms.
When police finally managed to enter the house, Tunger fired two shots at them. Police subdued him with a taser. No one was injured.
Tunger’s sister told police officers on the scene that her brother was a schizophrenic and had stopped taking his medication. This had led to a rapid decline in his mental health, and she had called the transportation company because he was refusing to open the door.
He Spent 18 Months in the Oregon State Hospital
Tunger was indicted on allegations of attempted first-degree murder, and assault and was found to be mentally unable to assist with his defense. He spent 18 months at the Oregon State Hospital, where doctors found it unlikely that Tunger would ever be able to defend himself — a conclusion that led a judge to dismiss the case.
Tunger’s case highlights the Oregon State Hospital’s role in hundreds of serious criminal cases involving people with mental illness each year, and the unclear process the psychiatric hospital uses to teach defendants to prepare for trial.
One Washington County judge said it was ‘mind-boggling’ how the Oregon State Hospital had handled Tunger, while Washington County Judge Brandon Thompson criticized the hospital for doing ‘little more’ than housing defendants.
U.D. District Judge Criticized for 2022 Ruling
However, it was U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman who was the main cause of Thompson’s anger, because it was Mosman’s 2022 ruling that imposed timelines on the release of ‘so-called aid-and-assist’ defendants like Tunger.
Mosman’s ruling was intended to reduce overcrowding in prisons and to allow defendants to assist in their defense. The ruling was also the result of a longstanding problem at the state hospital that has struggled for many years to cope with the influx of mentally ill patients admitted via the criminal justice system.
Mosman ruled that people accused of violent felonies could stay at the Oregon State Hospital for up to a year, during which time they should be schooled on how to defend themselves at trial.
In court, Judge Thompson said that the Tunger case illustrates Oregon’s inability to deal with potentially dangerous felons who most likely would never be able to defend themselves. He pointed out that those conclusions generally led to the dismissal of criminal cases – exactly what happened in the Tunger case.
At Least 117 Defendants Have Been Released This Year
At least 117 cases have been dismissed by Oregon courts this year, based on findings that the defendant is unlikely ever to be fit for trial. State court officials suspect the number of these cases is much higher because courts do not necessarily include separate orders spelling out those conclusions.
Under Oregon law, prosecutors can ask for a defendant’s civil commitment depending on conditions such as posing ‘inflicting grave or potentially lethal physical injury to others’ or posing an ‘extreme risk.’ If the request is granted, the law requires a court to review the commitment every two years.
While there were only about 12 people committed in 2020, there have already been 32 commitment orders this year.