During a mental health crisis, Devin Galinari hit a girl with a baseball bat, beat up a Steak ‘n Shake late-shift manager who tried to help her, and broke the windows of eight cars.
The May 2018 Montgomery assault, which left the manager in a coma for two weeks, earned 22-year-old Galinari a 13-year jail term.
Committed Offences While in Mental Health Crisis
“There is a profoundly troubling problem underlying this decision,” stated Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly.
“If Galinari committed the offences while in a mental health crisis, then the law mandates that he be handled differently,” Donnelly said, adding that it seems Galinari was in a crisis during the assaults.
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If true, this shows how easily mentally ill individuals may enter jail.
Donnelly, a Democrat, requested the Ohio Supreme Court assign an attorney to assist Galinari in investigating. Democrat Justice Jennifer Brunner joined the opinion.
Galinari appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court without a lawyer, alleging that his two felonious assault and one vandalism sentences should not have been consecutive.
The Ohio Supreme Court Disagreed
However, Donnelly referred to “troubling” mental health concerns underlying Galinari’s actions.
Court documents showed Galinari was treated at four hospitals or mental health institutions before the incident. First and foremost, he was inept.
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Summit Behavioral Healthcare diagnosed Galinari with bipolar disorder, which severely impairs judgment, according to his appeal.
According to his family, Galinari suffers paranoid schizophrenia, the Enquirer reported in 2018. At sentencing, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan advised Galinari’s family to monitor his prison treatment.
