Webb melodrama may be just that

The Seattle PI's Paul Shukovsky has the story of Mike Webb's performance Wednesday afternoon that began a cycle of events that culminated in his mistrial. But Prosecutor Nancy Balin is not buying it.

The 51-year-old Webb, the only witness for the defense, testified Wednesday morning and later told his sister, Marian Bagni, that he wanted to go home to clear his head before a verdict came in, according to Bagni and a police report.

But Bagni was concerned that her brother was suicidal, she later told Spector.

Webb had told her that if he was convicted the courts wouldn't need to sentence him, according to the police report. And Bagni said Webb had a gun in his house.

"I ran to the police officer and told him, 'I think he's going to go home and hurt himself,' " Bagni told Spector on Thursday.

Bagni said Webb was released from Harborview after promising to check himself into an inpatient treatment program.

But other behaviors by Webb puts the whole affair under suspicion.

Defense attorney Mark Larranaga said Webb's mental health has deteriorated, but the prosecutor suggested that the defendant deliberately sought a mistrial.

"Webb was aware that the jurors were watching" what unfolded in front of the courthouse, Balin said. She noted that Webb was heard to say: "This is going to end my trial."

"The state believes that raising the issue of competency now is a delay tactic," Balin said.

Balin said repeated disruptive demonstrations by Webb such as objecting to the presence of a press photographer in the courtroom and an altercation in a courthouse stairwell between Webb and a blogger aren't evidence of mental illness.

"A person who has trouble controlling himself during a bad, two-week trial is not necessarily mentally ill," the prosecutor said.

Comments

[sparky]

i was thinking this was fodder for a TV movie of the week, but now I wonder if it has gotten too unbelievable for that.
Since when do you release someone you think to be suicidal because the "promise" to check in for treatment on their own?

One thing is sure, Mike does like to get attention!

[joanie]

Agreed. This is getting too complicated for me. He absolutely may be manipulating this whole thing . . . but I don't like the idea of second-guessing a possible mental condition. Everything he's doing is just digging his hole deeper and deeper.

Is it possible to delay the case pending a mental eval? And if a mental eval were to support a mental disorder, to commit him?

Seems like either way he loses. I don't want to see him get off on this. He was perfectly sane when he made the decision to commit this fraud. I don't think commitment releases one from the responsibility of the crime - does it?

[just bad radio]

hot off the press the over baked brain on the over night is making , $ 175.00 dollars an hour, you do the math !
I think the over baked brain is still dating Tom From KIRO TWIN sister that is the only way I can think why the Styblehead is still on the air with the VERY VERY LOW ratings it still works out to about 270 people a night have on Boast to Boast radio

[sparky]

if found guilty and sent to "jail" it could be in a medical facility.

[umo]

Why would Webb's sister want him committed before the verdict? What if he was acquitted?

[sparky]

Because if he is really suicidal, that doesnt go away just because he is aquitted...his behavior through all of this from the very beginning screams as someone who is not well. His sister wants him to get help, regardless of his legal problems. For his own safety and for those who he is pissed off at right now, he needs help.
If I was his sister..I would go get his gun and lock it away...

[Cyn]

I think Sparky nailed it: Mike sure does like attention. To be more specific, he likes the attention when it benefits him and only when it benefits him. Otherwise, he cries foul and plays the victim. The prosecutor got it right, too. Mike is a master manipulator, but I doubt that there is evidence of a serious mental illness here. An experienced, savvy mental health professional will see through Mike's manipulations. All that said, the behavior of people is often very unpredictable. Mike does appear to be desperate. Desperate people sometimes commit desperate acts. That doesn't make them mentally ill.

By the way, it is not easy to be committed to a state mental health hospital. A trip to Western State Hospital is reserved for the most very ill when all other less restrictive alternatives have been exhausted. Again, I see very little evidence that Mike Webb fits the profile of someone needing the most expensive of all psychiatric treatments: care at an inpatient state hospital. Even if we all think he is nuts. Mike just continues to self destruct in a very public way. It is sad to witness.

[meagan]

I see Mike on occassion and he has never been anything but friendly. He seems stressed, but not on the edge . I have not seen him in a couple weeks, though.

[Tommy008]

"anything but friendly"- why not give Mike a few words of wisdom next time about your disagreement with gay marriage (although you're actually probably for it). I don't think he'll be quite so friendly after that. He might even call up your employers and try to block you from earning a living, something he's done to others who have opposed him (even just on his personal behavior and tactics, not politics) in the past. A truly friendly, nice guy is friendly and nice to those who respectfully disagree with them, not just the ones who drink the same koolaid.