Judge orders mental health evaluation for assault suspect

A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday ordered an updated mental health evaluation for a Unity woman jailed on assault charges whose attorney is trying to win her release to get treatment.

Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered the evaluation take place within 10 days at the Westmoreland County Prison or he will furlough Susan Barkley, 42, to meet with an outside psychiatrist.

“If we had a mental health court, this is, in essence, what we would do,” he said. “This is the second best thing we have at this point.”

Attorney Brian Aston tried during a Tuesday bond hearing to convince Feliciani to release Barkley to house arrest while she awaits trial so she could get mental health treatment, something that is not available to defendants being held at the county jail. After that hearing, Aston got a copy of a complete report from Torrance State Hospital, where Barkley spent two months after her June arrest and requested another hearing Thursday on the bond matter.

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli is concerned about community safety if Barkley were to be released. She is accused of using a pen to stab a registered nurse in the ear at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital’s behavioral health services unit in June during an involuntary commitment. She has been jailed without bond since then.

The Oct. 5 report, Feliciani said, showed that Barkley had a poor prognosis, was at a heightened risk for future violence and refused to voluntarily take medication. Aston described her symptoms now as “mild.”

“If we get her involved in mental health treatment while her symptoms are mild, call me crazy, but I think she might comply with what they’re asking of her,” he said.

An updated evaluation was needed to help in decision making about the request for release to house arrest, Feliciani said. Barkley said she has learned coping skills and didn’t want to take the medication while she was at the Derry Township facility. She appeared by video from the jail.

Barkley is facing a potential state prison sentence, if convicted, according to Iannamorelli. There, more treatment options are available. But if she is acquitted, she will be released and not under any court supervision, Aston said.

Criminal court is not equipped to handle mental health issues, he said, something all three attorneys discussed during the hearing earlier in the week.

“This is an opportunity before this court to put this young lady home … and get her involved in treatment,” Aston said. “This goes back to what I’ve been yelling about for years.”

Barkley has a separate case pending in which she is accused of chasing another vehicle and ramming it twice with her Ford Expedition in October 2019. Police said in court papers the chase started on Youngstown Ridge Road and ended at Greater Latrobe High School in Unity.

Police said Barkley got out at a stop light, screamed at two people in the other vehicle and punched the driver’s side mirror. She got out again outside the high school before a teacher and police ordered her to leave, according to court papers. Her $1,000 bond was revoked in that case after her June arrest, according to online court records.

Attorneys are trying to have her bond reinstated.