Attack Is Blamed on Desperation for Mental Care

A mentally disturbed man who jumped over a 20-foot wall and tried to force his way into San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital last month told a Superior Court judge Friday that he regrets the attack that hurt two hospital workers and said the assaults were brought about by beliefs he now understands were delusional.

During a preliminary hearing on charges stemming from those alleged attacks and a separate alleged assault on a boarding house manager, an attorney for the former patient, John David Mallen, 22, of San Diego, said his client’s behavior was prompted by the desperation he felt after being dismissed from psychiatric care against his will.

Mallen suffers from “a schizoid effective condition” during which he becomes severely depressed, his father, John Gerard Mallen, said outside the courtroom Friday. John David Mallen has been prescribed medicine for the disorder, but is incapable of taking it himself, his father said.

The assaults, which took place in September at a county-run boarding house and at the psychiatric hospital, occurred a month after Mallen last received treatment, his attorney, George Cooney, said.

Cooney contended that the county conservators who placed Mallen in a board-and-care shelter for mental patients did not administer his anti-depressant medicine, leaving him emotionally unstable.

The judge, Bernard Revak, recognized that problems with staff and bed shortages have been brought about by financial constraints on county mental health services, but ordered that Mallen stand trial.

Cooney said his client’s family is reluctant to submit an insanity plea on behalf of Mallen because they fear he will be placed in a state hospital for the criminally insane.

Cooney said his client should be reinstated into the treatment program at the psychiatric hospital. The court placed Mallen in the facility two years ago, but he left in mid-August. Cooney said his client was told to leave because of a lack of space.

John David Mallen testified in court that he did attack two victims, Bella Gonzales, the manager of the boarding house he lived at for one month, and Natoa Dorn, a hospital aide. The third charge was filed on behalf of another hospital aide, Abel Barrios, who intervened in a scuffle between Mallen and Dorn.

Mallen testified that he attacked Gonzales at her boarding house on Sept. 16, because he believed “there was an evil god inside of her.”

“I had to beat it out of her,” he said.

The scuffle at the hospital Sept. 18 occurred after Mallen had been turned away twice after trying to gain admittance, his lawyer said.

Cooney claimed Mallen first went to the hospital’s admitting desk, then to the back door and was finally forced to scale a fence and stand on a patio roof to draw attention.

Mallen, who carried a lead pipe, jumped down from the roof and hit Dorn twice on the arms. Cooney claimed that Mallen became violent out of frustration from being turned away.

However, during testimony, Mallen said he went to the hospital to seek revenge on Dorn for allegedly harming a “friend.”

“I was going over the wall . . . intent to do harm,” he said. Cooney claimed the testimony was delusional.

When asked by Cooney if he felt any remorse for striking Dorn, Mallen replied, “Yes, I can say I’m sorry. . . . I realize he’s a pretty nice guy.”

Mallen’s plight parallels recent cases in which the responsibility for psychotic--sometimes criminal--behavior is in dispute.

Ellen Schmeding, mental health program manager for the county Department of Social Services, said Mallen had been evaluated as being stable enough for a boarding house arrangement, and that he was being watched closely by county social service workers.

Defense attorney Cooney argued that county conservators were negligent in that they were aware of Mallen’s history of depression and instability and failed to supervise him properly.

As budget constraints continue to pare the county’s mental health care, and patients are kept waiting for treatment or are turned away, more such cases can be expected, Cooney said.

Mallen is scheduled to go to trial Wednesday.