LOS ANGELES (AP) – A California woman suspected of fatally stabbing her 1-year-old granddaughter and wounding her daughter and another young granddaughter spent nearly a decade in a state psychiatric hospital and outpatient treatment program before a jury ruled in 2015 that her sanity had been restored.
Nicole Darrington-Clark, 43, was sent to the psychiatric facility after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing of her 14-year-old son and throwing of her 10-year-old daughter out of a moving minivan in 2005.
The daughter was the same one who was stabbed Monday, according to police.
Darrington-Clark was transferred to an outpatient facility several years later, and two years ago a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found that her sanity had been restored, which meant she no longer required court-mandated psychiatric treatment.
Dr. Elyn Saks, a law professor at the University of Southern California with expertise in mental health law, said in insanity cases the accused are given the opportunity to resolve their mental health issues through treatment. That can happen quickly, over a long period or never.