Suspect avoids trialSimmons found mentally unfit; victims' family irate By Glenn Smith (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Michael Anthony Simmons Michael Anthony Simmons hunched over in a courtroom Friday, tears and sweat rolling down his cheeks. He shook his head and pumped his leg. He stared blankly at his lawyer when a judge tried to question him. Simmons' erratic behavior, coupled with a diagnosis of dementia, led Circuit Judge Kristi Harrington to determine that he is mentally unfit to stand trial in the killings of his wife and her four children in 2006. The decision sparked angry reactions from relatives of the victims, who are convinced that Simmons is putting on a show to escape prison time for shooting to death 39-year-old Detra Rainey and her children, ages 6 to 16, inside their North Charleston mobile home. "He's playing a game, that's all it is," Charles Thompson, Rainey's brother-in-law, said as left the courtroom. "Yes he is," another relative replied with a grimace. "He needs to man up to what he's done." That may never happen. If Simmons is to be believed, he recalls almost nothing from his past. He can't remember the killings or even the fact that he had a family, according to a forensic psychologist's report. The judge's ruling paves the way for Simmons, 43, to be confined indefinitely in a secure state mental hospital. Beattie Butler, Simmons' public defender, said Harrington made the only decision possible, given his client's precarious mental state. Butler said there is clear evidence from brain scans that Simmons suffered a stroke of some kind while he was in jail. The resulting damage has left Simmons unable to comprehend the charges against him or assist in his defense. Simmons doesn't even realize he is in jail, he said. "He is profoundly confused," Butler said. Solicitor Bruce Durant said prosecutors remain skeptical, particularly since Simmons' dementia set in after his arrest. Mental health tests conducted on behalf of prosecutors and the defense were in agreement on that diagnosis, he said. "The psychiatrists are driving the bus on this one, and we're just passengers hanging on," Durant said. The killings were among the most heinous reported during 2006, a record-setting year for murders in the tri-county area. North Charleston police found all five victims slain in their Ferndale area mobile home on a Saturday afternoon. Killed were Rainey and her children William Lee Rainey, 16; Hakiem Rainey, 13; Malachi Robinson, 8; and Samenia Robinson, 6. Investigators think Simmons shot the family in the early morning and then hung around the house. Neighbors reported seeing him sitting on his porch for much of the day, almost until the very moment North Charleston police arrived. Some said he looked fidgety. The killings came to light after Simmons invited a woman into his home with the offer of a cigarette, possibly for the purpose of having sex with her, authorities said. She walked inside, saw the bodies and ran from the home to call police. North Charleston police Sgt. Kelly Spears spent about four hours interviewing Simmons after the killings. Simmons seemed coherent and capable at the time, Spears said, and she saw nothing that would suggest dementia. If anything, Simmons seemed a bit more calculating than the average suspect, she said. A psychiatric evaluation done one week after the killings showed Simmons to be coherent and he was able to describe events leading up to his arrest, but his mental state deteriorated markedly in the months that followed. Multiple psychiatric evaluations this year found him to be fearful, guarded and constricted, with a "severely impaired mental status," according to a report by forensic psychiatrist Leonard Mulbry. Simmons was admitted to a mental hospital once before, in 1987, and reported a history of hallucinating and hearing voices at that time. Tests suggested that he had mild mental retardation. His mother told doctors that Simmons' father had a history of mental illness and that several other family members had died from mental illness, according to Mulbry's report. Simmons was released from the hospital later that year and returned to the county jail to face pending criminal charges of armed robbery, assault and battery with intent to kill and second-degree burglary. He was convicted of those charges the following year, 1988. Rainey's sister, Melba RaineyThompson, said Simmons has always been short-tempered, violent and trigger-happy. She recalled one instance where he pointed a gun at her husband during an anniversary party. She and another sister, Nicole Rainey Pruitt, attended Friday's hearing and came away convinced that Simmons was faking his mental illness to escape prison. "It's just an act," Pruitt said. Melba Thompson said the death of her sister and Rainey's children has been devastating to their family. Thompson said she can hardly sleep these days, and her daughter is in counseling. Christan Rainey, who lost his mother and four siblings in the shootings, remains in Baton Rouge, La., where he attends school and works as a Wal-Mart manager. He had been saving his vacation days and money to return to Charleston to attend his stepfather's trial. He was crushed to learn that wouldn't happen. "I just feel like he's getting the easy way out," he said. "If you do something like he did, I don't care what happens after. You should still be held responsible." Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 16 comment(s)
Posted by umakebrains on June 21, 2008 at 1:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is such a sad situation, be it as it may, this man was coherent enough to kill everyone in the household without incident, and now his mental instabilities are a problem? his mom said "his father was an idiot" (not in those words) but if you follow someone crazy home, someone crazy will answer the door! He needs to be tried in his present state because he was always a fool, it's not like he was ever sane.
Posted by bullbythehorns on June 21, 2008 at 3:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I do recall this case and what a horrible incident this was. I wish there was a way that he could go to trial due to him being competent when the initial incident took place; however, that isn't going to happen. When you look at it, what choice did the judge have? You have a psychologist for the defense and the prosecution coming to the same conclusion, along with the brain scan paper work in your hand. What are you going to say....thanks for your expert opinions and findings on the defendant not being competent and thanks for conducting that brain scan that shows the defendant had a stroke, but I really don't care about any of your medical findings, I’m not a doctor, but I know more than you, lets fry the guy. It just doesn't work like that. As much as I think that the defendant needs to face execution, not so much the judge's fault in this case. If the defendant is truly faking, that's the doctor's fault for not seeing through it. A judge has knowledge of the law not medicine. At least he will be locked away some place for the rest of his miserable life.
Posted by Siri on June 21, 2008 at 4:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am so sorry for the families of the victims. I agree they should get their day in court, however, we normally do not allow incompetent people to stand trial.
This is not a way out. To spend 40 or 50 years on Bull St. is no picnic. This is why I say my God has a sense of humor. To be locked up in your own mind forever, severely impaired, fearful and guarded. Sounds like hell on Earth to me. I hope his demons haunt him and torture him the rest of his sorry days!
Posted by lillycollette on June 21, 2008 at 4:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I most certainly appreciate the feelings of the family members but remain mindful that the law is not run on emotions. This man really hasn’t escaped anything in this case.
Posted by drp7773 on June 21, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess his lawyer taught him well, great acting.....another OJ gets to walk......
Posted by moonpie on June 21, 2008 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a horrific turn of events. Why weren't the peoples opinion of his mental state prior to these murders taken into account? I agree with the surviving son. Good luck to the family as this monster has touched them all!
Posted by RTC on June 21, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I would call foul on all of this except that you can't dispute the cat scan findings. He was just fine when he committed the crimes, but suffered a stroke while incarcerated. For the familiy's sake, maybe he will suffer a fatal one and leave this world without a jury's help.
I hope that they will be able to get closure in some way.
Posted by tomtomdumdum on June 21, 2008 at 10:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Where is our elected solicitor, Good news she gives it, Bad news someone else gives it. Come on Scarlett, Try a case so we can see if yoy can win one, So far your office is 0 for 6 on trials.
Posted by sfpower4 on June 21, 2008 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i was actually a friend of the 13 year old Hakiem Rainey. as a friend i can say that this man that killed them should still be held responsible. if not for him that family would still be living today. the day that i found out about the incident was horrible and seemed non-real. simmons needs to pay for what he did.
may the Raineys rest in peace.
Posted by KnowAllSeeAll on June 21, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Somehow, I knew someone was going to blame this on Scarlett. Hey, I bet it was some conspiracy. I bet she paid the judge to say he was incompetent so she wouldn't have to lose the case. Right?
Get off her back. Every week Court is in session, they try cases and they win. Get off it.
Posted by grayghost on June 21, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bet you didn't know that this judge worked for the SOLICITOR'S OFFICE for the past couple of years!
Well done judgey!!!!
Posted by SCgal on June 21, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Must be the new, updated, aggressive, FAIR justice system only seen in this area!
Posted by ms_lady2u on June 21, 2008 at 11:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And the best acting awards, goes to......Mr. Simmons! He deserves the Oscar, Emmy & Tony !!
Posted by tomtomdumdum on June 21, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
KnowAllSeeAll Name one violent case in the last 8 months that went to trial and got a guilty verdict. I will even let you use Berkeley County.You are on the clock. Tic Toc
Posted by tomtomdumdum on June 21, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
KnowAll,I am going out in my boat for a while so you have time to make a few phone calls.
Posted by bullbythehorns on June 21, 2008 at 7:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
grayghost, so what the judge used to work for the solicitor's office. You have to look at the big picture. The only option any judge has is to take all of the facts that are presented to them and make a decision based on that, same way a jury would make a decision. I seriously doubt any person, whether it be a prosecutor or judge on a personal level wants to see the defendant in this case not be put to death; however, there isn't much of a choice when you have certain information right in front of you and you have to follow the law. Personal emotions are left out of a decision such as this.