This is a rather sad story that just came to my attention. Tony Rosato, a former SCTV performer and a SNL cast member from 1981-1982, has been sitting in a Canadian jail cell for two years awaiting trial on harassment charges.
"Brodsky explains that the Crown's expert prison psychiatrist, Dr. Duncan Scott, has told him and the Crown "that Tony Rosato is certifiable." Scott's diagnosis, says Brodsky, is a mental illness called Capgras syndrome.
Named for its discoverer, French psychiatrist Jean Marie Joseph Capgras, the syndrome is characterized by the delusion that a person or people have been replaced by doubles or impostors. The rare condition is most commonly associated with schizophrenia, but according to Dr. Graham Glancy, a forensic psychiatrist with Metro West Detention Centre and Maplehurst Correctional Complex, it can also be caused by metabolic diseases, delirium, brain injury or drugs such as cocaine.
Kingston assistant Crown attorney Priscilla Christie has declined to talk about Rosato and referred questions to the Ministry of the Attorney General.
It's a "complex" case, says ministry spokesperson Brendan Crawley. Rosato, he continues, is viewed by the Crown as "an allegedly dangerous person with mental health issues who has been charged with a crime."
Rosato... Rosato, WHO?.
Posted by: It's Me... Maven | Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Thank you for bringing attention to the plight of the mentally ill in prison.
Posted by: Eva Mah | Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 11:30 AM
The trial is scheduled to commence on August 7, 2007.
Posted by: D.J.B. | Saturday, August 04, 2007 at 10:52 AM