By Janice Morse
Enquirer staff writer

HAMILTON - Should a mentally ill suspect be medicated against his will, possibly rendering him competent to face trial in a case that could lead to his execution?

That's the question brewing in the Butler County case of Tom West, the 51-year-old charged in last fall's deadly shooting spree at a West Chester Township trucking company.

Psychiatrists treating West have asked a judge to order West to be forcibly medicated with psychiatric drugs. The request may be the first of its kind in Ohio, said state Public Defender David Bodiker.

The concept of medicating defendants who don't want to take drugs is an emerging and controversial area of law and medicine, said Bodiker*. Both he and Christopher Pagan said they knew of only a few previous court decisions related to forced medication - none involving a potential death-penalty case.

"We're kind of on new and tenuous legal ground," Christopher Pagan said. "They're seeking to (put) unwanted drugs into him so he can be competent and he can be executed - and there's something really creepy about that."

Officials from Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare recently sent a written request asking Judge Keith Spaeth to consider ordering the medication for West.

In June, Spaeth found West incompetent to stand trial on murder charges that carry a potential death sentence. He was charged with aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of two men.

He faces additional charges of attempted murder for wounding three others at Watkins Motor Lines Inc.

West had been a trucker based at Watkins' Atlanta hub, but authorities have said they could find no reason for him to target the West Chester location.

After a psychologist said West was suffering from delusions and serious mental illness, Spaeth ordered him to undergo treatment at Twin Valley and set a hearing for December to evaluate his condition.

It was unclear Thursday what led Twin Valley officials to seek an order from Spaeth now, although Pagan acknowledged that West apparently is refusing to take medication.

In response to Twin Valley's request, Spaeth plans a telephone conference for Tuesday with lawyers in the case and has tentatively set a hearing for Aug. 13.

Assistant Prosecutor Craig Hedric, who is handling the case, was on vacation and couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

His boss, Prosecutor Robin Piper, said his reaction to the request was: "I don't think that a criminal defendant should have the right to make himself incompetent so that he can't stand trial. So in essence, that's what he's wanting to do. ... If it's not intrusive and it's not highly invasive, he should not have a right to avoid accountability."

Pagan said he is concerned the medications proposed for his client's mental health could threaten his physical health. Possible side effects of the proposed medications include sedation, weight gain, high blood sugar, tremors and stiff muscles.

Bodiker said he would try to help Pagan to fight the request.

"We have lots of heavy artillery on the issue," he said. "In order to forcibly medicate someone, to make them go to trial on an issue, seems to defy due process and common sense."

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E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com

* Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly identified David Bodiker as one of West's two court-appointed attorneys.