Jared Ravizza, the Vineyarder accused of last weekend’s off-Island stabbing spree, has lost his defense lawyer in a separate West Tisbury assault case.
Edgartown attorney Robert D. Moriarty told the Edgartown District Court that his attorney-client relationship with Ravizza had suffered “an irretrievable breakdown.”
Moriarty, who was privately retained, represented Ravizza after the 26-year-old was charged with assault and battery on his father in West Tisbury on April 14. Ravizza was also charged with wrecking his father’s home office.
“There is an irretrievable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship between Mr. Ravizza and I,” Moriarty wrote in his motion to the court. “I am respectfully requesting that I be allowed to withdraw from this case.”
Judge Paul G. Pino approved the request Wednesday. Ravizza is due in Edgartown court on July 22 for his arraignment on the April charges.
The arraignment date was scheduled after Ravizza was removed from a pretrial diversion program on Wednesday that he was supposed to start last month. Diversion programs are intended to resolve low-level criminal cases without a trial, sometimes with counseling and treatment.
“Please be advised that you have been terminated from the Diversion Program,” the notice to Ravizza states.
Ravizza also faces 12 criminal counts in Quincy District Court and Plymouth District Court stemming from his alleged stabbing of four girls in a movie theater in Braintree, and two people in a McDonald’s in Plymouth, last Saturday.
Connecticut State Police have said they are focusing on Ravizza in a homicide investigation of the death of a 70-year-old man found earlier Saturday in Deep River, Conn. He has not been publicly charged, however.
He is currently in custody, and undergoing a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital, a medium-security facility.
There is no “rehabilitation” for people like this. Admit the reality.
Any man who stabs little girls is a maniac. I’d personally prefer capital punishment in this case (problem solved) but since no one died to my knowledge, this little fiend will be out of prison in maybe 12yrs with good behavior.
On the other hand, his victims will serve a life sentence of nightmares and fear.
Just wondering how people feel about “life” when the subjects of capital punishment and abortion are considered side by side.
I would think that a conservative would argue that one life is innocent and the other is not. A Christian conservative may argue “an eye for an eye”.
Carl, it’s my understanding that “turn the other cheek” is the Christian teaching. Reciprocal justice, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, is in the Hebrew bible several times. It’s had a more ethical and less literal interpretation by rabbis over many centuries.
Jackie, thank you for reminding me how poorly I did in my religion classes while attending Catholic schools. Too funny! Just showed my elderly mother your reply to my comment and she is mortified with me. You made our day. I never did quit get turn the other cheek. I am an eye for an eye type guy.
David, what evidence do you have that there is no rehabilitation for people like this? Who gets to decide?
Sounds like there were ALOT of red flags with this guy….
He wont be in prison for 12 years. He will claim mental instability and he will be placed in a mental institution and be paroled in 5 years. Unless and until they can prove he killed that other man.
andy– I love it when you make predictions !
That sounds very expensive. Is there a less expensive alternative?
This person is clearly mentally ill, he belongs in a mental health facility probably for the rest of his life.
“It is estimated that 18% of the general population has a mental illness. However, an estimated 44% of those in jail and 37% of those in prison have a mental illness (PDF | 670 KB). It is estimated that 11% of 18-25 year olds, and 6% of those over 25 years old have a substance use disorder.”
My guess is that the numbers for mentally ill Islanders are higher than the general population, but I’m not suggesting people run around stabbing children. They just get arrested for assault on a household member, for fighting outside the Ritz, or for drunk driving. The percentages of substance abuse disorders and overdoses are probably much higher than the general population. All the fussing over how to legally get even more cannabis to islanders tells us a reality many try to hide. And yes, marijuana use for fun can be addictive and lead to other drugs. It can also cause psychotic events. Potheads will be sure to disagree. Some will even pretend they don’t indulge, but grow their own to “give to friends”.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/marijuana-induced-psychiatric-disorders-high-potency-weed-psychosis-rcna146072#
https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/05-2022/mental_health_reentry.html#:~:text=For%20incarcerated%20people%2C%20those%20rates,have%20reported%20mental%20health%20concerns.
“Rehabilitation” is not the job of our prison systems. Jail exacerbates mental illness, but these sick individuals get released into the general public after they have served their time.
What are we doing, aside from making things worse? Ignorance of mental illnesses and how best to treat them or understand them at all, seems to be a joke to most people– until a violently ill person lives among us. Most sick people can be helped. Giving up on them is uncivilized.
Tax dollar cost?
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