In the best interest and protection of B.L. (Published Memo): Another case where a defendant declared incompetent to stand trial refuses the medication that could render him competent. Here, the doctor for the State filed an application to force B.L. to take his meds. But the Tyler court has already held that a bare application isn’t evidence. So B.L. wins this appeal.
This is the same result, and the same reasoning, of the earlier Tyler case of In re E.G. As noted in that post, the Rusk State Hospital is in the jurisdiction of the Tyler court. As you might imagine, there are constitutional issues raised by forcing someone to take medications. If I had to place bets on what sort of Tyler case might eventually end up in the Supreme Court of the United States, this is where I’d go “all in.”
