The Tucson man shot and killed by a Tucson police officer downtown last week had been released from the Arizona State Hospital in August after doctors deemed him no longer a danger to himself or others.
After he left the state hospital, Joseph E. Molina, 34, spent a few days at the Pima County jail until a judge ordered him released from custody. When he was released, his public defender referred him to a mental health provider, but no one had any legal authority to force him to go or check on whether he did.
Two months later, on Oct. 18, Molina was shot after trying to carjack two drivers, stealing a police car, pointing a gun at an officer and crashing into a Sun Tran bus, the culmination of what police said was a week of bad behavior.
Assistant Pima County Public Defender Michael Rosenbluth speculated that he ran out of his medication.
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Although Molina had a lengthy criminal history, Rosenbluth said, his one-time client was a "really nice guy" who was just diagnosed last year as being paranoid schizophrenic.
In April 2009, Molina hijacked a bus driver with a drywall saw, ordered the driver to call 911 and then forced him into the parking lot of a West Valencia Road restaurant where he spotted sheriff's deputies, according to court documents.
Molina told the deputies he heard voices warning him that two men were trying to kill him, and he hijacked the bus to get to the police station. He also believed a listening device had been planted inside of him.
Molina was deemed incompetent to stand trial, but after being treated was allowed to plead "guilty except insane" to his seventh felony, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, in March 2010.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell ordered Molina to spend 3 1/2 years in the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix, but he also scheduled a hearing for 75 days later to determine if Molina could be released from the hospital or if he should be civilly committed to the hospital.
On Aug. 6, Fell received a confidential doctor's report on Molina's mental health and "dangerousness," and Molina was transferred back to the Pima County jail.
Ten days later, Fell ordered Molina to be released from custody unless the Pima County Attorney's Office sought to have him civilly committed.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney's Office said state law prevented her from disclosing if a civil commitment was sought for Molina.
Dr. Fred Miller, the county's chief medical director, couldn't comment on Molina's case either, but said generally speaking, unless jail staff observe alarming behavior, they are required to follow a judge's orders.
If they do see something disturbing, Miller said, inmates are taken to University Physicians Hospital at Kino for an evaluation, and civil commitment proceedings, known as Title 36 proceedings, are often sought.
"If there's no Title 36, he's out there like you and me," Miller said.
If defendants are on medications, they are provided four or five days' worth when released from the jail and advised to follow up with their primary-care physician or mental-health provider, Miller said.
That places entirely too much burden on people like Molina, Rosenbluth said.
"A lot of times we're talking about people with limited skills and education, and when they're told 'When you get out you need to make sure you go here and you go there,' it's very difficult," Rosenbluth said. "They may not have any money or transportation or family."
He personally gave Molina directions for the Southern Arizona Mental Health Corporation so he could enroll with a mental-health provider, but he doesn't know if he went, Rosenbluth said.
Molina didn't have a driver's license and lived on a reservation with few services, Rosenbluth said.
Rosenbluth speculates Molina ran out of his medications and "decompensated quickly," perhaps turning to illicit drugs to self-medicate.
Court documents indicate Molina had a history of abusing opiates.
Police say Molina was arrested the week before his death after getting into a fight with police officers and was suspected of robbing a south-side bank two days later.
"It's so sad. He was doing really well at (the state hospital) because he was on his meds, which are key," Rosenbluth said. "Still, I didn't think anything like this was going to happen. He was a nice guy. He was really quiet and soft-spoken and very respectful."
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
