Retired Hartford Police Officer Jill Kidik barely survived a 2018 attack by a mentally ill woman, who stabbed Kidik in the throat during a disturbance call. Now, Kidik believes there need to be changes to Connecticut laws governing the Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB), particularly after the well-publicized conditional release of Tyree Smith, who killed and consumed parts of his victim in 2011.
Chevaughn Augustin was found not guilty by reason of insanity for her attack on Kidik and was sentenced to nearly 40 years under jurisdiction of the PSRB, which confined her to Whiting Forensic Connecticut’s maximum security psychiatric hospital in Middletown. Just a few years later, however, Augustin was transferred to a less secure facility and would be allowed supervised trips into the community over the protestation of Kidik.
“Just a year after my case, the law was changed,” Kidik said. “It took away the right for the Board, the state’s attorneys or the victim to request a hearing upon an acquittee being downgraded.”
That law from a 2022 bill, An Act Concerning Connecticut Valley and Whiting Forensic Hospitals, required the PSRB “consider the acquittee’s safety and well-being in addition to the protection of society,” allows the hospital superintendent to determine when a patient should be transferred to a less secure facility without PSRB approval, and, from there, the acquittee can begin the steps for reintegration into the community, including applying for temporary leave after they have achieved all other levels of privilege.
According to the law, the PSRB “may grant a hearing” for a temporary leave application when made by the superintendent, and “shall” grant a hearing if the state’s attorney requests one. Statute says the PSRB “shall grant the application,” provided the acquittee is not a danger to themselves or others, and the board sets rules for how that temporary leave is conducted, including allowing the patient to supervise themselves. The statute indicates that only then does the PSRB have to notify the victim “regarding such temporary leave.”
Kidik testified against the bill in 2022, arguing it essentially puts more authority into the hands of one individual rather than the board, and restricts the PSRB’s ability to weigh all factors, particularly the victims’ viewpoints, when considering temporary leave or transition to a less secure facility.
In 2023, Kidik spoke out after her attacker was moved to a less secure facility called Dutcher Hall, and in 2024, she was granted a criminal protective order against Augustin, who is allowed on supervised temporary leave, according to Kidik.
“The new law did actually mean that there is no right to a hearing for anyone the hospital has decided to move from Whiting to Dutcher. I was the last one,” Kidik said. “I feel very let down by the system.”
The 2022 legislation came following a patient abuse scandal at Whiting that saw more than 30 employees either terminated or arrested for their treatment of patient William Shehadi, who had been kept at Whiting after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of his father.
Kidik argues the law essentially removed authority from the PSRB, which had nothing to do with Shehadi’s treatment in the hospital and gave more power to the very providers and staff who covered up the abuse of Shehadi.
A task force convened in the wake of the Whiting Scandal, however, ultimately recommended in their 2021 final report that the state of Connecticut consider doing away with the PSRB altogether. According to the report, most task force members felt the PSRB “makes decisions on a non-clinical basis,” and that acquittees were committed to the PSRB for lengthy periods of time that create a “psychological constraint” on rehabilitation.
“The stated purpose of the PSRB is to protect public safety,” the report said. “These lengthy commitments do little to further that end. Rather they seem to be more a mechanism to reassure the public than an individual will never get out of an institution. Per statute, once an individual has received appropriate treatment such that they no longer pose a danger to self or others, he or she must be released to the community. To do otherwise goes against all principles of recovery and criminal justice.”
While the legislature ultimately decided to keep the PSRB, several of the recommendations made by the task force were adopted in the 2022 legislation, including balancing the PSRB’s role in protecting society with “the rights to which institutionalized patients are entitled;” allowing patients to petition for temporary leave and allowing the hospital to determine whether a patient can be moved to a less secure facility.
Tyree Smith, whose case made national headlines when the PSRB granted him conditional release into the community, was determined to no longer be a threat to himself or society and Whiting Hospital submitted the application that he be granted conditional release. Smith had been found not guilty by reason of insanity for brutally killing Angel Gonzalez in 2011 and was committed to the PSRB for 60 years. Smith had already been granted temporary leave, and Gonzalez’s family opposes the conditional release.
Smith’s case, however, put the PSRB back in the hot seat with Senate Republican leaders saying, “This terrible decision puts public safety in jeopardy and is yet another terrible message to send to CT violent crime victims and their families. This person should never be out.”
“When the board was asked if he was likely to reoffend if he fails to take his medications, they said he was more than likely to do so,” Rep. Devin Carney, R-Old Lyme, said in a press release. “The decision to trust an insane murderer’s promise to not reoffend is far too risky of an agreement to make.”
Carney highlighted legislation he introduced this session that would essentially roll back some of the changes made in 2022, including making the PSRB’s primary concern be the “protection of society,” with the well-being of the acquitee as a secondary concern; require a hearing to grant temporary leave; remove the ability of acquittees to be under their own supervision during temporary leave, and require “clear and convincing evidence” when considering moving an acquittee to less restrictive placement.
“Prioritizing the overall safety of our residents should always take precedent and today’s decision is a complete failure of justice for the family of Angel Gonzalez and the man himself, whom Smith murdered and cannibalized only 13 years ago,” Carney said. Thus far, the legislation does not appear to be going anywhere, with no public hearing yet scheduled.
According to information supplied by the PSRB, temporary leave plans are coordinated between the hospital and community providers, and generally start with brief visits to community facilities for activities, progressing toward overnight trips and, eventually, conditional release whereupon they continue to be monitored by community providers. Conditional release can be revoked if the acquittee shows a deterioration in mental condition or violates their conditions of release.
Kidik says the system can be confusing, particularly for victims who may have experienced a horrible crime and are seeking justice. A victim or victim family may be told that someone found not guilty by reason of insanity has received, for instance, a 40-year sentence, but not it’s not a prison sentence because they were found not guilty.
Instead, the individual is under the jurisdiction of the PSRB for that amount of time and since they are a patient and not a prisoner, their ability to move about the community is determined by their response to treatment rather than a set length of incarceration. Kidik says that prospect can be difficult for victims and their families to deal with.
“I’m alive for some reason, and I do feel like this is a big part of it,” Kidik said in an interview. “Nobody really seems to understand the PSRB and with everything going on with it and what’s not right with the hospital itself. I feel like I need to be an advocate for everybody else who doesn’t know who to talk to.”
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If Devin Carney, and the CT GOP, feel more oversight is needed then they should advocate for staffing DMHAS appropriately and adequately fund the community providers monitoring the PSRB appropriately. Perfect timing for Devin to get GOP support for the pending budget talks and during employee contract negotiations.