Pscychiatric Transfer Denied for Youth Charged in Holdups

A teen-ager charged with robbing two San Fernando Valley banks was ordered Wednesday to remain in custody at Sylmar Juvenile Hall instead of being turned over to a psychiatric treatment center until his case can be tried.

Citing testimony by a court-appointed psychiatrist, who countered earlier psychiatric testimony that the boy may suffer from a hereditary “mood disorder,” Juvenile Court Judge Burton S. Katz denied a request by the family of Michael Morrison, 16, of Tarzana that he be transferred from the Sylmar facility.

“He does need therapy. I don’t think there is any question about it,” Katz said. “But I think it is premature at this point.”

Katz also said he made the ruling because of “strong indications” that Morrison, who reportedly told a psychiatrist that his father “has hired me the finest lawyers,” believes the court system can be “manipulated.”

No Detriment Seen

“If he believes he has manipulated the system to his own benefit, it would impede and impair his ability to be rehabilitated in the future,” Katz said. “There is no specific detriment at this time arising out his remaining in Juvenile Hall.”

Morrison and a friend, Mark Berman, 16, are charged with the May 23 armed robbery of more than $4,000 from Encino Savings and Loan Assn. Morrison also has been charged with the Jan. 3 armed robbery of $1,200 from Barclays Bank in Tarzana.

Both youths also have been charged with stealing three cars at gunpoint in the period from May 16 to May 29.

Morrison’s attorney, Steven Rein, argued that the boy should be sent for testing at an in-patient psychiatric treatment program for adolescents at Coldwater Canyon Hospital in North Hollywood.

Rein said the tests would help psychiatrists decide whether the boy suffers from a hereditary “mood disorder” that could link his emotional instability to “mood swings” reportedly suffered by his father when he was an adolescent.

Morrison’s father pleaded guilty in 1963 to bank robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Psychiatrist’s Testimony

Child psychiatrist Noel Lustig, who testified Monday in favor of releasing Morrison to Coldwater Canyon Hospital, said there is a “70% probability” that the boy has a hereditary mental illness that could be treated with antidepressant medication and psychotherapy.

Lustig said the younger Morrison may have been “seeking role identification” by imitating his father’s criminal behavior “during an acting-out phase” of his mood disorder.

But Tarzana psychiatrist Stephen J. Wilson, who was appointed by the court Wednesday afternoon to examine Morrison, concluded that there is a “very, very low possibility” that the boy suffers from such a disorder.

Instead, Wilson said, Morrison may have less severe conditions known as “conduct disorder” and “narcissistic character disorder” that lead him to do things that are “foreign or alien to the norms of society.”

“There is a sense of self without the sense of care and compassion and taking into consideration the wishes and needs of other people,” Wilson testified. “I found evidence of sadness there. I did not find any clear-cut evidence of any manic depression or any major affective illness.”

When asked whether Morrison had discussed the bank-robbery charges with him, Wilson said the boy told him he wondered if he “could pull off a stunt like this” and that he was planning “to do one more quote-unquote ‘job’ in order to get enough money to open his own business because he wasn’t going to get rich earning $100 a week.

“He reflected that, in retrospect, it was probably pretty stupid,” Wilson said.

Wilson said he does not believe Morrison is suicidal, as the earlier psychiatrists had testified. The judge also said he doubted that Morrison would try to kill himself.

Katz said the psychiatric testimony was admitted only to decide where the boy should be held, and that the youth’s statements to the psychiatrist will not be used against him at any trial.

A fitness hearing to decide whether Morrison and Berman should be tried as adults has been scheduled for June 24.