Floyd Brown has been confined to a North Carolina mental institution against his will for the last 14 years, charged with a murder which he claims he did not commit. Because he has the IQ of a 6-year-old and does not understand the legal process, he cannot be brought to trial and the case against him cannot be argued in front of a jury.
Mr. Brown is charged in the death of 80-year-old Katherine Lynch, who was beaten to death with her own walking stick. There were no known witnesses to Lynch's murder and no physical evidence linking Mr. Brown to her death. The only evidence against him is a confession given after he signed away his constitutional rights. But at least three forensic psychiatrists and several of Brown's former special education teachers say that he is not capable of understanding the confession, or even of making it.
The detectives who extracted the confession from Mr. Brown were later convicted on unrelated charges of racketeering for shaking down criminal suspects. Court records show that the two extorted money from criminal suspects in exchange for not filing or dropping charges against them. The agent who investigated their case said, "They were as dirty as anyone I've seen. They could have done anything."
Floyd Brown does not understand why he is in a mental institution or why he is being held against his will. A court hearing is scheduled for early this month in what is probably his last chance at freedom. Maybe justice will finally prevail and Floyd Brown will be allowed to go home.
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October 8, 2007 - Update
Durham County Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson ordered Floyd Brown freed Monday after dismissing the case against him.
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