A psychiatrist delivered an assessment of boxer Jermain Taylor's lifestyle and mental health Tuesday, saying he's likely brain-damaged, which makes it hard for him to control himself when he's using marijuana or alcohol.
Such substances are regularly consumed, and the 36-year-old former Olympic boxer and championship fighter has a "frat-boy mentality" when he's not in training.
He also has no one in his life whom he feels he can trust.
That bleak appraisal of Taylor's life, tempered with some optimism for the athlete's future, was delivered to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson by the psychiatrist who has been treating Taylor for much of the past two weeks.
Taylor was admitted to the hospital at his lawyers' request over "concerns he was not really stable to be outside a hospital," Dr. David Streett of Rivendell Behavioral Health Services hospital in Bryant testified.
The question for Johnson at Tuesday's hearing was whether Taylor could be released on bond to await trial on first-degree battery and aggravated-assault charges over the shooting of his cousin in August. The answer from the judge was not yet.
"Just releasing him today is not going to happen," Johnson told Taylor and his lawyers before hearing testimony about Taylor's hospitalization and the circumstances of his arrest last month over new aggravated-assault allegations. He is accused of threatening a Little Rock couple and their children while shooting off a pistol near his Little Rock gym just after the city's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.
The doctor's written findings could come as soon as today. Taylor is also scheduled to undergo neurological testing today by state doctors as part of their effort to assess his mental health for the judge. Those findings are not expected for weeks.
Johnson said he'll release his decision in an order whenever he decides where Taylor should go -- home, or to a hospital, jail or some other place -- and under what conditions. The boxer had been free on bail after the August shooting, but the judge revoked his release after police accused him of firing the gun at the parade.
"If he can't control himself, then he doesn't need to be out," the judge said. "If he can't control his impulses, that's a problem."
Taylor's face could be seen only in profile by the audience. He watched the 70-minute proceeding intensely, sometimes squinting as he leaned forward to hear the testimony and sometimes whispering to his lawyers. Aside from his notoriety and the heavy presence of news media, the proceeding was not much different from the hundreds of bond hearings the judge presides over every year.
Just as it was at his court appearance two weeks ago, Taylor was guarded by four sheriff's deputies. His hands were cuffed and shackled to a chain around his waist. His feet were also chained. The only notable difference between the Jan. 27 hearing and Tuesday's was that Taylor wore a navy sport coat and blue shirt as opposed to a jail uniform.
His lawyers hope to see him freed on bail sooner rather than later.
But Taylor will remain indefinitely in custody -- although remanded to the hospital -- until the judge sees the doctor's findings in writing, along with a concrete plan about how to make sure Taylor gets the treatment he needs, whether it be counseling or substance-abuse rehabilitation, Johnson said. Also important is making sure that Taylor is separated from associates who are bad influences, the judge said.
"I don't want to keep him locked up. I'm trying to figure out what's best for him," Johnson said, telling the attorneys he wanted to make sure that Taylor is provided treatment for his problems. "All we're doing is creating more problems, if we haven't dealt with that."
Questioned by defense attorney Hubert Alexander, the doctor said Taylor has "trust issues," some brought on by followers attracted by his money and fame, and poor impulse control, likely from brain damage inflicted during his boxing career.
"He trusts no one in this world," Streett said, who described Taylor's prowess as a fighter as a "gift."
Taylor lives an "adolescent's dream" with a "frat-boy mentality" of consuming marijuana and alcohol when he's not training, Streett said. He told the judge that he was not saying Taylor cannot control himself, but that the fighter has "significant difficulty with impulse control" that is made much worse when using mind-altering substances.
Taylor already undergoes an annual evaluation at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where he was treated by a neurologist in 2010 for a fight-induced concussion that inflicted memory problems.
Streett said Taylor is at "great risk" of hurting someone if, while he's under the influence, he thinks he's being threatened. Taylor needs to be kept from using marijuana and alcohol, and barred from having guns, the doctor said. He suggested that Taylor could be released with electronic monitoring with the requirement that he get counseling, meet weekly with a court-appointed monitor, and undergo regular drug and alcohol testing.
"With the boxing injuries, if you add alcohol and drugs, he's not going to be thinking clearly," Streett said. "There would be a risk of him acting out if he felt threatened while using alcohol and drugs."
But the clinical psychiatrist also said he was optimistic about Taylor's future, provided he gets ongoing therapy and stays away from drugs and alcohol. Taylor wants to turn his life around, but he needs to learn how to structure his life to be more healthy, the doctor said.
"What he's communicated to me is a desire not to live like that," Streett testified, describing Taylor as a "perfect gentlemen" during his hospitalization.
He said Taylor has been able to avoid confrontations with other patients who have challenged him. Taylor has always ended those situations politely and easily, the doctor said. But, Streett said, he's concerned that in jail, with less supervision over the other inmates, the boxer would not be able to resolve confrontations so easily.
Chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson questioned how Streett drew his conclusions, suggesting that the boxer had not been fully forthcoming about his run-ins with the law -- two shooting episodes about five months apart. The prosecutor said the evidence does not show that Taylor was acting in self-defense in either of those instances.
As an alternative to jail, Taylor's attorneys said he could enter Recovery Centers of Arkansas. The well-known former Razorback football player Muskie Harris, who works for the program, said he has been talking with Taylor for the past couple of weeks about how the boxer can improve his "life skills." He said Taylor could enroll in Recovery Centers' lockdown program, which takes two to four months to complete and provides "structured" days for the clients.
Once Taylor completes that program, he could move to a transitional program offered by Recovery Centers that would allow him more liberty, Harris said.
A section on 02/11/2015