Sanity retrial of Palm Desert woman who attacked sister, mom gets underway
A Palm Desert woman who attempted to kill her sister and almost ran over her mother has a long history of mental illness and should be declared mentally incompetent to stand trial on other felony charges, her attorney told jurors today, while a prosecutor said the defendant understands what's happening, has a goal and changes her behavior to avoid consequences, indicating that she's sane to stand trial.
Erin Leah Richey, 44, will be retried on her sanity of when she committed one felony count each of assault on a person causing great bodily injury and arson on an inhabited structure, according to court records.
Richey was convicted on May 2, 2022 of the two charges and one felony count each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, having a fire explosive and taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, according to court records. She was also convicted of two felony counts of cruelty to an animal
and had one felony charge of attempted murder acquitted.
In the sanity phase of the first trial for Richey, a jury returned verdicts finding her mentally competent when she committed a series of violent acts in December 2018, but the panel was split on her psychological condition when she perpetrated the two felony charges.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini declared a mistrial on the two felony counts for which she was previously found guilty and prosecutors are now retrying Richey's sanity on the two charges.
During opening statements of Richey's retrial Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, her defense attorney Shaun Sullivan told jurors that his client's history of mental illness includes hallucinations and that she has been hospitalized multiple times.
"The evidence will show that the administration of her medication is inconsistent,'' Sullivan said, adding that the "effects that medication has on her is not always entirely predictable."
He said that part of the mental illness she suffers from causes her to stop taking her medication as she becomes convinced that it's is not working and that the longer she stays away from it the harder it is for get back on it.
Sullivan told jurors that Richey was declared mentally incompetent twice by doctors and now he asks that jurors evaluate that evidence including her history of hallucinations, hospitalization, delusions and unorganized thinking. He asked that jurors find Richey mentally incompetent at the end of the trial and to focus, not on what his client may or may not have done in the past, but what she's capable of doing now.
Deputy District Attorney Karen Salas then told jurors that the defendant's mental illness will vary from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder depending on which doctor they hear from and that though she is mentally ill, evidence will suggest that Richey is able to cooperate with her attorney, is intelligent, picks up on court proceedings and her answers begin to vary depending on what she hopes to gain.
"She understands that she has been convicted at this point and she is bitter about it. She is angry about it,'' Salas said. ``And you're going to hear that.''
Salas told jurors that the defendant is able to have goals in the prosecution and directs herself toward the goal by such things as not taking her medication and not cooperating with her doctors to get the outcome she wants. She asked that at the end of the trial, jurors find the Richey's goal-oriented behavior as competence for her to stand trial.
The sanity phase of Richey's first trial lasted less than a week following a two-week criminal trial stemming from attacks that occurred in the 77500 block of Mountain View Avenue and the 77330 block of Missouri Drive.
According to sheriff's investigators, on Dec. 15, 2018, Richey struck her sister, whose identity was not released, on the head with a mallet "numerous times'' and also attempted to slash her with a knife during an unspecified confrontation.
The defendant then took one of the victim's vehicles, and as she was speeding away, attempted to run over her mother, also not identified, who owned the property where Richey was staying in a trailer, investigators said.
The sister was hospitalized with non-life-threatening head injuries. Their mother was not hurt.
Richey was arrested later that same day while driving along Avenida Caballeros in Palm Springs.
The arson charge resulted from an attack reported two days earlier on Missouri Drive, where Richey set fire to a carport, causing burn injuries to a woman residing at the location. The victim was not identified in court documents.
The animal abuse charges were filed because the defendant set her cat, Mabel, on fire and sprayed ant and roach killer into her mother's dog Mia's eyes before throwing the pooch over an eight-foot wall.
Richey remains held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
