Court denies mental patient's appeal

MOUNTVERNON, Ill. -- A state appellate court has rejected a central Illinois man's claim that he should avoid jail time for an attempted murder charge because authorities have already punished him by forcing him into a mental institution.

Rodney Yoder, 45, has been held at the Randolph County jail since April 2003 and is facing charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery. The former mechanic is accused of hitting fellow patient Antwon Mitchell with a sock containing flashlight batteries on April 26, 2000.

Yoder's attorney, Randy Kretchmar, contested the charges, arguing that since the attack had been used as a basis for Yoder's involuntary stay at the mental health facility, the incident should not have been used to bring a criminal charge. But a three-judge panel of the 5th Appellate Court in Mount Vernon ruled that Yoder's involuntary stay in the mental health facility does not preclude the charges against him.

"We do not find that an involuntary admission is so punitive that it constitutes a punishment," said the panel's decision, which was made public Friday.

The panel cited a 25-year-old Illinois Supreme Court case that justices said "leaves no room to doubt that proceedings for involuntary admission are intended to be civil in nature" and don't constitute double jeopardy.

The charges stem from an incident at the Chester Mental Health Center, where Yoder had been involuntarily held since 1991. Mitchell wasn't seriously hurt in the attack.