A Magnolia man charged with multiple felonies after a 2017 standoff with police near Renfroe Street has been found not guilty by mental disease or defect in Columbia County Circuit Court.
Lacadran D. Thomas, 32, a prior-convicted felon, was facing counts for aggravated residential burglary, terroristic act, possession of a firearm by certain persons, arson, endangering the welfare of a minor-first degree (four counts), and terroristic threatening first-degree, stemming from a Nov. 8, 2017, episode that spanned much of the night and stretched from Hilltop Street to Renfroe Street, where police say the suspect barricaded himself in a home, set a fire inside, threatened to shoot officers, then fired multiple rounds at authorities, all while children were present.
Arkansas State Police SWAT was called in to help handle the situation. The special unit eventually launched teargas into a home at 1225 Renfroe and Thomas was taken into custody. A Magnolia Police Department probable cause affidavit stated that a loaded 9mm Ruger pistol with an extended magazine and a cigarette lighter were found in the home after the scene was cleared.
Thomas has been in custody at multiple facilities since his arrest and was held on $500,000 bond, according to inmate records. His legal defense relied on his mental state and his ability to understand criminal responsibility during the alleged incident. The defendant has undergone extensive examinations and testing on his fitness to proceed.
A hearing to review the findings was held Thursday in Columbia County Circuit Court. The testimony relied heavily on the opinion and diagnosis of Dr. Julia Wood, a medical doctor and forensic psychologist who previously examined Thomas and has dealt with roughly 20-30 fitness to proceed and criminal responsibility cases in Arkansas, according to her own account.
The doctor first became involved with Thomas’ case in May 2019. The defendant had previously been examined by another doctor in 2018 who found Thomas unfit to proceed, then he was restored to fitness to proceed.
During that time, Thomas was also incarcerated in the Arkansas Department of Correction, according to Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Phillips, where he was part of a forensic outpatient restoration program.
Upon his re-evaluation after the program, Wood, according to her testimony Thursday, found that Thomas suffered from numerous mental illnesses, including unspecified bipolar disorder with the need to rule out major depression and psychosis, intermittent explosive disorder, antisocial personality disorder, alcohol use disorder-mild (in remission), and cannibals use disorder-mild (in full remission).
She found that, during her examination long after the alleged Nov. 8, 2017, crimes, Thomas was alright to proceed with the case.
“I believe at the time of the evaluation, he no longer lacked the capacity to understand the proceedings and no longer lacked the capacity to assist his attorney,” said Wood.
But on Nov. 8, 2017, the doctor claimed that after her review of the case’s evidence — which included Thomas’ own report as well as law enforcement’s account of the night’s events — the defendant at that time was “in the throes of an active psychotic state.”
“Either coming from his bipolar or depression, he was psychotic, in my opinion, at the time of the alleged crime,” said Wood.
The opinion, according to her testimony, was based partially on Thomas’ own report of “what was going on in his mind at the time” as well as his mental history.
When asked point-blank by Phillips whether substance abuse may have contributed to the “psychotic state” described by the doctor, Wood answered: “It is possible,” but that it was not likely.
She said that Thomas told her that he consumed alcohol earlier in the day on Nov. 8, 2017, but that from his description, it was not an “excessive amount” and he was not intoxicated at the time of the alleged crimes. The doctor also noted that she believed Thomas had not used cannabis in some time and that he had only consumed some alcohol that day.
“It was my opinion that his alcohol use was not excessive enough to have caused the things that are alleged to have happened,” she said.
Thomas is also charged with revocation of probation and residential burglary. The latter charge stems from an incident that is alleged to have occurred roughly a month prior to Nov. 8, 2017. The incident, according to a police affidavit, involved Thomas kicking in the door of an Angelia Street home in Waldo on Oct. 11, 2017, where a female acquaintance resided, and cursing at and hitting her in the head. He was charged with residential burglary for the incident, according to court records.
Wood in her testimony concluded that Thomas during the alleged October 2017 incident understood his actions and was not in a psychotic state.
Phillips in his questioning of Wood asked how in just a month’s time could someone essentially go from knowing right from wrong in a domestic crime to not knowing what he was doing in such a major ordeal that was said to have involved shots fired at police.
The doctor responded that Thomas’ mental disorders are a matter of peaks and valleys.
“It’s rare to see something like this, but we have to understand the disorder that [Thomas] has,” said Wood.
She explained that bipolar and major depression is “cyclical” and that, when accounting for the former, there are “higher highs” and “extreme lows.”
“In my opinion, at the time of the alleged [November 2017] crime, he was in an extreme low,” she said. “And during those periods, he would also be psychotic.”
The doctor also added that she believed Thomas was “on a downward slope” during the October 2017 incident in Waldo, but that he still had the ability to know the consequences of his actions and whether they were in compliance with the law. But by Nov. 8, 2017, she claimed, the defendant’s mental state had “deteriorated.”
“He was now no longer capable of making those decisions, and was gravely disabled,” said Wood.
Phillips’ as he further questioned the psychological expert if the defendant, if he were released from custody, would be a danger to society.
Wood, basing her opinion on her time spent examining Thomas in September 2019, said that she did not believe, at that time last year, that he was a danger to himself or others. But she parsed her statement by noting that the defendant was “sick” and could be harmful if he lapsed into a bad mental state.
“The sicker he gets, the more dangerous he could become,” she said.
She noted that Thomas also “tended to bring others into him” when he was experiencing a strong bout of sickness.
“He had children around him at the time of the crime,” Wood added.
She indicated that she would have concerns if Thomas were left with no oversight since he put the lives of others, including children and police officers, in harm’s way. She added that the defendant could function normally, but if an episode occurred, there could be a problem.
“If no one is overseeing him… then we could be in trouble,” Wood said.
Proper and regimented medication and regular meetings with counselors or officers were key factors in supervision.
After hearing extended testimony from Wood, as well as questioning from both the prosecution and the defense, final requests were heard by Circuit Judge David W. Talley Jr. before his ruling. Seemingly expecting the result that would ultimately be handed down, Phillips stated to the court that he “would love to resist” the decision, but felt the state had no grounds after the testimony from the doctor. The prosecutor, though, did request that, due to the Wood’s testimony that Thomas could be a danger to himself and others if unsupervised, that the court sign an order placing the defendant in the Arkansas State Hospital for supervision and assessment in its 911 program.
Thomas’ attorney, Public Defender Andrew Best, replied that he did not contest Phillips’ request, as long as there was a court order on the books finding his client not guilty by reason of insanity – which was the ultimate finding of the judge.
Phillips after the hearing noted that the state intended to go ahead with Thomas’ revocation proceedings and his residential burglary charge stemming from the alleged October 2017 break-in at Waldo. The prosecutor added that a plea offer would be made in the case.
Best added that he would consider an offer and hoped that both the revocation and the burglary case could be wrapped up with expedience and all at once.
Thomas is next scheduled to appear in Columbia County Circuit Court on Feb. 20.
In other court news:
Jayson Carroll, charged with revocation of SIS and revocation of probation, pleaded true on Dec. 19, 2019. His sentencing was delayed until Thursday. At court, he tested positive for marijuana and was sentenced to five years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and six years SIS.