Daswan Jette never had a stable place to call home.
As a toddler he entered the foster care system, where he continued to need intensive services for emotional and behavioral issues as he grew up. Intermittently, he found himself hospitalized for increased aggression and self-injurious behavior.
With his biological parents considered unfit to raise him, he was forced to adjust to new places and new people on a regular basis, making for a life of constant instability.
Now 22 years old, Jette faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind prison walls. The state attorney general’s office is prosecuting him on charges of first- and second-degree murder in the death of Sabrina Galusha, who police say was stabbed multiple times in a marijuana deal gone bad outside the Penacook Place Apartments in May 2017.
But questions remain about whether Jette is mentally competent to stand trial for the crime. The final decision rests with Merrimack County Superior Court Judge John Kissinger Jr, who in recent weeks heard conflicting recommendations from forensic psychologists chosen to evaluate Jette and to review his complex medical history, dating back to his infancy.
On Thursday afternoon, defense expert Dr. Robert Joss testified that he believes Jette is not presently competent to stand trial. Joss reasoned that Jette’s hypervigilance, stemming from a history of post-traumatic stress disorder; his general distrust of his defense attorneys; and his belief that the judge is “against him” would inhibit his ability to move forward.
“I’ve never had anyone more reticent to talk to me than Mr. Jette,” Joss said, noting that he has evaluated hundreds of people, including accused murderers, sexual predators and others facing criminal prosecution.
Should Jette be properly medicated and receive further mental health care, Joss said there is a chance Jette could one day be fit to stand trial on the charges before him.
“While I don’t think it will greatly affect his distrust in people, it will make him focus on what’s going on in court,” Joss said of medication-assisted treatment.
Jette was previously hospitalized at Bridgewater State Hospital in Massachusetts, a medium security facility that houses defendants with civil commitment orders and pretrial detainees sent for competency evaluations. Jette, who has a criminal record in the Bay State, was ultimately found restorable.
While Joss said a state hospital would stabilize Jette and get him on the right track, another forensic psychologist who testified at the request of state prosecutors in October strongly disagreed.
Dr. Tiffany Piasck, who retook the witness stand Thursday, said Jette’s medical records show he did not do well in a hospital setting; he taunted other patients and had difficulty being around those who presented psychotic symptoms.
Piasck previously told the court she believes that Jette is fit to stand trial in the murder case after her extensive review of his juvenile records, residential placement history, mental health evaluations, as well as police reports and witness interviews following Galusha’s death. As a result of her research and meetings with Jette, she found him to have a “factual and rational” understanding of the criminal case despite a complex history of depression, anxiety, PTSD and childhood traumas.
Jette has been held without bail since his arrest more than a year and a half ago.
At both competency hearings, members of Galusha’s family looked on from the courtroom benches, seated behind state prosecutors. They previously told the Monitor that 23-year-old Galusha, a Concord High School graduate, was a “free spirit” who wanted to make the world a better place.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)