Previously combative inmate changes attitude
A week ago, 22-year-old Ryan Thorsen was in District Court shouting about Adolf Hitler’s wrath while assaulting another inmate.
On Tuesday, he was calm and seemed lucid.
Dressed with black protective mitts over his hands and a white mesh "spit bag" over his head, the skinny Thorsen apologized to Judge Michael Villani for his outburst during a sentencing hearing Oct. 1 and asked to see a doctor.
"I’m sorry for what happened in court the other day. I have a severe mental health problem. The meds aren’t really working any more," Thorsen said.
Thorsen was to be sentenced Oct. 1 for battery by a prisoner for attacking a corrections officer. In court, he spit on and jumped on the inmate to his left while screaming, "Hitler said you would feel his wrath."
Public Defender Will Ewing said his client’s memory of what happened was foggy.
"It appears he has periods of pretty good lucidity. He also has periods where he is pretty mentally troubled," Ewing said.
Thorsen has a history of mental illness, which includes schizophrenia, Ewing said.
Thorsen has been sent three times to Lake’s Crossing, Nevada’s institution for offenders with mental illness, only to have doctors say he is competent and should be in jail, according to court records.
Other doctors have said Thorsen is not mentally competent or that his condition can’t be determined because he won’t cooperate.
Since pleading guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon in 2007 for stabbing a woman and a 13-year-old girl with a hypodermic needle at the Fremont Street Experience, Thorsen has been charged at least three times for attacking or attempting to attack corrections officers.
Thorsen was sentenced to six years for the assault with a deadly weapon charges.
On Tuesday, Villani sentenced Thorsen to five years for battery by a prisoner to run concurrent with another battery by a prisoner conviction but consecutive to the assault with a deadly weapon convictions.
In total, Thorsen has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. He could be eligible for parole after four years.
As for Thorsen’s request to see a doctor, Villani told Ewing to make sure Thorsen was receiving the proper treatment.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.