The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 29

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2E" iiyuymuii ceived four telephone calls from a state administrator and each call was taken by someone on the jail's medical staff. Curtis said that the staff was asked to intervene and stop Jordan from being sent to the psychiatric center. Hadley Smith said that wasn't true. She said the state was only trying to clarify the order and find out more about Jordan's condition. She said there might have been a "possible misunderstanding." Neither Curtis nor Hadley Smith would identify the administrator who made the calls.

The apparent confusion hadn't been resolved by Wednesday night, when Jordan was found hanging by a bed sheet about 9 p.m. in a day room on the fifth floor of the Hall of Justice. The day room is a place where inmates can watch television or use the phone. Jordan was allowed to spend one hour a day in the day room, Curtis said. The officer who took him there about 8:15 p.m.

did not see a bed Continued from Page 1 identify more resources to take care of the mentally ill in our society," he said. "If not now, then when?" Jordan might never have ended up in jail had he received the treatment he needed early on, said Sheriall Cunningham, director of the Mental Health Association of Kentucky. "I think that it's a reflection of the lack of community-based services for mental illness," she said. "Like any other illness, the sooner it's treated, the better." Jordan, 34, had been in jail since Feb. 24, when he was arrested in the.

slayings of his half brother, Terry Wayne Vihlidal, 53, and a woman, Leslie Miles, 37. They were found shot to death in their home at 13510 Tennis Blvd. in Valley Station, after Jordan held police at bay for about five hours. Jordan was charged with two counts of murder and one count of wanton endangerment. When Jordan was arraigned on Monday, his at .5, 1 1 torneys, public defenders Mike Bufkin and Sheila Seadler, asked that he be sent to the nearest state facility for psychiatric treatment.

They told Wine that their client was not receiving the treatment that he Circuit Judge Tom Wine said he explained why he issued his order. "I was surprised it was met with such resistance." sheet, she said. When Jordan was first taken to jail on Feb. 24, he was placed on suicide watch, Curtis said. However, on Feb.

29, he was taken off suicide watch and placed in a cell on the fifth floor, where inmates with psychiatric needs are u-. tif housed. Sharon Size-more, health services administrator at the jail, said she couldn't comment on why Jordan was taken off suicide watch, nor could she describe what kind of treatment he was getting, or whether he was being given any medication. Sizemore said that the jail tries to provide the best psychiatric care it can, but that it is not a psychiatric facility. She said inmates who need psychiatric care are seen by a mental-health professional, usually a psychiatrist, every day.

ervice. junvom i repaid needed in jail. They said his condition was deteriorating. While in court, Jordan appeared dazed, his head down, his hands shaking. Wine ordered that he be sent to the psychiatric center immediately.

A copy of the order was faxed to state officials. Hadley Smith called it an "extremely unusual" order. Typically, she said, judges order inmates to the psychiatric center for a competency evaluation or, once they've been found incompetent to stand trial, for further treatment. Wine's order was different. Hadley Smith said that a state administrator called Wine to try to clarify the order, and also called jail officials to try to get more information about Jordan's condition.

In an interview, Wine said that he explained why he issued his order by noting the Kentucky statute requiring that an inmate who needs psychiatric treatment be provided with it at the nearest facility. "I was surprised it was met with such resistance," he said. Diane Curtis, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Department of Corrections, said jail officials re Limited time offer! Curtis said officers patrolling the fifth floor check on inmates at least every 30 minutes, if not more often. Jordan was last seen about 8:30 p.m., she said. This is the first suicide in the Jefferson County Jail this year.

Curtis said there were none last year, though there were nine suicide attempts. She said that almost 600 inmates were on suicide watch last year, an average of about 50 a month. "It's a tragedy we very much try to prevent," Curtis said. Ericsson 677 Digital Phone "'fl Prepaid Airtime Included uiiiom Jji-TfVn, 52S 4LJ WINDOWS SIDING PATIO ROOMS "ny no liiSIIMESEilH Mi-HP i 0 I (502) 454-5111 AGAFE of JESUS CHURCH 10609 Watterson Trail atTaylorsville Rd. Bob George Video's "The New Covenant" Sundays 9:30 am 493-8815 CS' (S' SunCom Member of the Wireless Network ft LEARN REAL ESTATE D7T07MJ A-Pass-Weikel Institute 14 Oxmoor Center Louisville Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church Religious Education 1 1 :00 A.M.

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