A Texas jury will soon decide on Eddie Ray Rouths next home: a maximum-security prison cell or a room with an open door and no lock.

Rouths defense attorneys have argued that their client is not guilty because he was insane when he killed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield in February 2013. But lawyers who have staged similar defenses say it will be a hard sell to jurors, in part because they are told little about what comes after an insanity verdict, and how Rouths life in a state hospital would differ from life in prison.

The upshot: Routh would have more freedom at a state hospital and could be let out at some point. He would have a regimented life and difficulty convincing doctors and a judge that he should be released permanently.

But its not prison.

Our mission is treatment and recovery, not punishment, said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Our whole focus is empowering patients to become responsible for their own lives.

Routh would go to one of two state mental health maximum-security facilities. Both are in small towns: Rusk, in East Texas, and Vernon, near the Panhandle.

Once inside the secured perimeters, it looks very much like a local community college, Williams said.

The hospitals have regimented days, regular shower times and jobs such as janitorial work or gardening. They have classes, such as those that deal with social skills, anger management and life skills.

Patients can learn about their illnesses, medication and treatments. Their rooms, with twin-size beds and a small wardrobe, are bathed in soothing colors. The doors stay open. There is TV, but not in the bedroom. The Internet is restricted. Cellphones and other contraband arent allowed.

David Self, retired chief of the forensic unit at Rusk State Hospital, said the daily programming is both therapeutic and good for security.

Read the original here:
Juries like those in Chris Kyle case hear little of how those found insane live

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