Marchell Taylor Sr., 54, has spent 24 years in prison. He says his life started spinning out of control after a car wreck when he was nine years old. He hit his head on the dashboard.
“Busted my eye wide open,” said Taylor.
He also experienced a tough childhood.
“Growing up in less than valuable environments — environments of domestic violence, drugs, alcohol — that rewires a person, a child’s brain definitely,” said Taylor.
Taylor turned to drugs and violence not long after.
“I have seven felonies,” he said.
Taylor was in and out of jail. Then, he got help through a program at the Denver County Jail.
“They’re like, "You have a TBI, pre-frontal cortex damage." They did a screening and entire assessment, and it changed my life forever,” he said.
While Taylor was involved in a different program, he’s a supporter of a new pilot program just launched by Colorado’s Office of Civil and Forensic Health in partnership with the University of Denver’s Forensic Institute for Research, Service and Training.
“This project is exactly one of those projects that allow us to focus in on patients in the competency system, patients who are criminally justice involved but who may have suffered a severe brain injury, compounding their mental illness and complicating their ability to participate in a criminal trial,” said Director for the Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health Leora Joseph.
For context, the state serves close to 6,000 patients a year who are considered incompetent within the criminal justice system, according to Joseph. Right now, there’s no data on how many of these patients have a brain injury. Getting that data is one goal of the program.
“Our clinicians will do an interview with the individual, a clinical interview,” said Dr. Jennifer McMahon, programs director for DU’s Forensic Institute for Research, Service and Training. “Then our clinicians will do a number of assessments that are specific to identifying brain injuries, the symptoms associated with brain injuries and being able to really identify what some of the deficits are and strengths are so to help capitalize what resources are best for the individual."
McMahon says the group hopes to serve around 400 people during the two-year pilot. The goal is to restore them to competency for a court hearing and keep them from re-offending.
“To do this program was way overdue. It may even open Pandora’s box,” said Taylor.
Funding for this pilot comes from the Colorado Competency Fines Committee. The State Department of Human Services hopes the program can eliminate the waitlist for competency services and become a national model.
