|
Debra's Story |
|||
|
|
I am an attorney who is employed as an Assistant Defender by the Office of the State Appellate Defender, a state agency which represents indigent persons on criminal appeals. In 1986, I represented Debra Lynn Gindorf, a woman who, at the age of 21, had been found guilty but mentally ill of the murders of her two children, Jason, age 3 months, and Christina, age 23 months. Debra's trial defense was insanity related to Battered Woman's Syndrome. The defense really didn't fit, however, because she had not killed her abusive ex-husband. Summary of the tragedy The case was complex and astounding. Grossly oversimplified, the situation involved a young woman with absolutely no criminal record and a well-documented, totally undisputed history of loving devotion to her children. The children's father, X, was a violent, dysfunctional, alcoholic young man who beat Debra mercilessly and often. They met when Debra was 14. The couple were divorced during Debra's second pregnancy, when she was 20. After Jason's birth in January, 1985, Debra lived alone with her two children in poverty. Despite her lack of resources, the children were healthy and well cared for. During the winter of 1984-1985, Debra was extremely depressed. She received some comfort from fundamentalist Christians, who provided her with literature filled with stories about Heaven. Like many battered women, she was irrationally, obsessively attracted to her abusive ex-husband, who still came around sometimes. In late March, X and Debra went out to a tavern together, where they discussed getting back together. At some point, X left, telling Debra he would return for her. He never did-he met up with his current girlfriend, instead. The incident was the last straw for Debra. She resolved to kill herself. Her only remaining concern was the well-being of her children. She went to her few friends, parents and sister and asked them all whether, "if something happened" to her, they would take care of her children. Everyone declined to commit to that. Desperation Debra vacillated on what to do. On a few occasions, she purchased non-prescription sleeping pills and whiskey. She spent the evening of March 28-29 writing letters to each child, trying to express a strong last message of love and to dispel any possibility that either would grow up feeling like they were in any way responsible for her death. At some point during the night, worried sick about what would happen to the children in her absence, believing her family would not intervene and fearing that they would end up with R.-and bolstered by a confused understanding of the fundamentalist Christian belief system-she made the fatal decision to take the children with her to Heaven, "at a place of happiness was," as she wrote after her arrest. Suicide and murder as a mode of transportation to Heaven, in other words, chosen by someone whose experience of life was deeply painful, for herself and on behalf of her babies, who she did not want to leave behind to experience suffering of their own. In the early morning hours of March 29, she gently fed her children lethal doses of sleeping pills in formula and juice. She also consumed what should have been a fatal dose of the same pills, along with a large quantity of whiskey; however, she vomited the poison and merely passed out, awakening in the morning to find herself alive and her babies dead. The bodies were tucked into Debra's bed with her. She spent the day trying unsuccessfully to kill herself with gas and a knife. Finally, after hours of passing in and out of consciousness, as evening fell, she walked to the police station and told them exactly what she had done. Sentence and appeals Debra's convictions and natural life sentence (mandatory for the murder of two or more victims) were affirmed on appeal. Thus, at age 21, Debra was sentenced to serve the rest of her life in prison without any hope of parole. About a year after the appeal was lost in 1989, Debra and I started hearing about postpartum mental disorders. Recently, there has been a barrage of information about PPP (postpartum psychosis) and PPD (postpartum depression), following an epidemic of horrifying cases of suicide and murder committed by new mothers-the doctor's wife who threw herself out a 12 story window, the two women who drowned themselves in Lake Michigan, another who threw herself in front of a CTA train and, of course, the woman in Texas who drowned her five children. In 1989, however, hardly anyone was aware of postpartum disorders, let alone postpartum psychosis. PPP is recognized I was amazed at the number of documented cases of postpartum depression and psychosis I was able to find. I began contacting experts directly. Eventually, I got the two top names in the field to examine the evidence in Debra's case and issue written reports. A third, local expert also evaluated Debra. All three found her to have acted while psychotic due to a postpartum mental disorder. Upon reviewing the PPP assessments, both experts who had supported Debra's trial defense of Battered Woman's Syndrome issued new reports stating their opinions that Debra was a PPP case. Both explained that they, too, were not aware of postpartum disorders. That makes sense, as postpartum disorders were not included in the edition of the Diagnostic Statistics Manual, the psychiatric diagnostic bible, which was available in the mid-1980s. Clemency denied Relying primarily on those materials, I filed a clemency petition in 1990. It was denied by then Governor Jim Thompson. It was suggested that the name of our agency on the cover was detrimental. I made the rounds of the biggest firms in Chicago, trying to interest their pro bono departments. Winston & Strawn agreed to take it on and spent ten years working on a second clemency petition. The second clemency petition was filed in 1999. The firm spent thousands having yet another nationally known PPP expert evaluate Debra. Again, she was found to be PPP. Additionally, a national PPP expert-who has testified before Congress on PPP- also evaluated Debra and found her to be PPP. Once again, Debra was the unlucky victim of rotten timing. In February, 2001, while under fire for all of his political difficulties, Governor George Ryan denied the second petition. A few months later, Melanie Stokes threw herself out a 12th story window and the papers filled with sympathetic stories recognizing the existence of PPP. While the enlightenment of the public regarding PPP has been heartening for Debra, she also has suffered an emotional roller coaster ride-the denial of the first clemency petition, the hope which built during the long preparation of the second clemency petition only to be dashed by its denial, and then the positive PPP press. Debra is now 37 years old going on 137. She still grieves for her children. It is hard to imagine a worse predicament. No one I know needs hope and help more than Debra. We filed a third clemency petition in February, 2002. It was pending before Governor Ryan just as the blanket clemency for the death row inmates was being debated. As Ryan moved towards commuting the death sentences to natural life, he frequently assured murder victims' survivors that no one in Illinois has ever left prison after receiving a life sentence. Unfortunately, that was exactly what we were asking him to do in Debra's case. Thus, it came as no surprise when the petition was denied in January, 2003. Upon receiving the denial order, I contacted Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn and urged him to report this injustice. He has become a strong advocate of Debra's, has visited her at Dwight and has written five or six columns calling for her release. After his first column appeared in January, 2003, a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board called him and told him the whole board was outraged at Ryan's denial order. The Board member said I should refile immediately--that the Board would waive its rule requiring petitioners to wait a year after a denial order before refiling. I did so. We had a very favorable hearing in April, 2003. However, we've received no ruling since. The Governor doesn't have to rule on the petition--ever. He could just leave it behind when he leaves office. Debra's supporters include Dr. Ronald Baron, the psychiatrist who testified for the State at Debra's trial and Michael J. Waller, the Lake County State's Attorney, whose whole office met, pondered the situation and voted to support the petition. Postpartum Support International and Depression After Delivery, Inc., both are ardent supporters of Debra's cause. Nine psychologists and psychiatrists have found her to be a postpartum disorder victim. No mental health professional who has examined her case has found otherwise. A psychologist and her own long-term counselor at prison have evaluated her for present fitness and found that she is not a danger to herself or others. Finally, an Illinois legislative task force has taken up the cause. There is NO opponent to this petition and NO reason it should not be granted. The only obstacle is the Governor's fear that a favorable ruling will have negative political repercussions. Kathy Hamill Committee to Free Debra Gindorf
|
||