Todd Hall, accused in a fatal fireworks store fire four years ago, will spend more time in a state-run psychiatric hospital.

Thursday, March 16, 2000

Todd Hall, accused in a fatal fireworks store fire four years ago, will spend more time in a state-run psychiatric hospital.

Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Walton granted on Wednesday the Ohio Department of Mental Health’s request to recommit Hall.

Hall and his attorney, J. Michael Evans, faced Judge Walton and a psychiatrist’s recommendation during the short court proceedings.

State law requires commitments be re-evaluated every two years, Walton said.

"We have previously received a motion for continued commitment from personnel at Cambridge Psychiatric Hospital," he said.

Evans and assistant prosecuting attorney Jeff Smith stipulated as to the contents of the hospital’s report. They did not argue recommendations made by the facility’s staff.

Walton said he had read the evaluation and found that the "application for continued commitment is proper."

Hall will be returned to Cambridge, he ruled.

Hall spoke twice – both times to ask for a transfer to a psychiatric facility near Athens.

"Can’t you just send me down there?" he asked. "It’s so much closer to home."

Walton said the Ohio Department of Mental Health decides placement of its patients.

"The court does not have a say in that," he said.

Evans also asked the court for time to research whether the psychiatrist’s evaluation can be withheld from the public.

Such reports do not have to be released to the public according to a new state law, he said.

"Our position is the report is public and should be released," Smith said, but added that the prosecution did not have a problem with giving defense counsel time.

Walton said his first reaction is that the report is public record. But he had not researched that issue, he said.

Walton sealed the report until April 1. Evans is to file a motion by then or the court record will be unsealed. If a motion is filed, a court hearing on the issue might result.

In the original fireworks fire court case, judges found Hall incompetent to stand trial on arson and involuntary manslaughter charges related to the 1996 Scottown fireworks fire that killed nine people. His commitment to a state mental health facility stemmed from that decision and he was transferred from a maximum security facility to Cambridge Psychiatric Hospital, according to court records.

In March 1998, Walton ordered the two-year commitment, finding Hall still a danger to himself and the public.