Court tries to help war vets find way back home

BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- The defendants fidgeting in Part 4 of Buffalo City Court have been arrested on charges that could mean potential prison time and damaging criminal records, but they have another important trait in common: All have served their country in the military.

That combination has landed them in veterans treatment court, the first of its kind in the country.

Here, Judge Robert Russell is the evenhanded quarterback of a courtroom team of veterans advocates and volunteers determined to make this brush with the criminal justice system these veterans' last. He metes out justice with a disarming mix of small talk and life-altering advice.

"They look to the right or to the left, they're sitting there with another vet," Russell said, "and it's a more calming, therapeutic environment. Rather than them being of the belief that `people don't really understand me,' or `they don't know what it's like' -- well, it's a room full of folks who do."

If the veterans adhere to a demanding 1- to 2-year regimen of weekly to monthly court appearances, drug testing and counseling, they could see their charges dismissed, or at least stay out of jail.

After counting 300 veterans in the local courts last year, the judge tailor-made the treatment court to address not only vets' crimes but their unique mental health issues.

Charles Lewis, who stood before Russell at a recent session, may be exactly the kind of defendant the judge had in mind. The 25-year-old acknowledged walking out in frustration from his last counseling session.

"We all know that you're a good person who at times has done some inappropriate things," Russell told him. "It's time to get past the nonsense, don't you think?"

Lewis nodded in agreement. A jet mechanic four years into what he thought would be a 20-year Navy career, he severely injured his leg on the flight deck of the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2004 and was discharged.

Forced to rethink his future before his 22nd birthday, he returned to Buffalo, where he found work as a laborer and in the concrete business before starting his own concrete company. After taking on more work than he could handle, Lewis said he found himself charged with petty larceny in December for keeping a $3,000 deposit from a customer for a job that never got done.

A daily habit of prescription pain pills for the plates and pins in his leg compounded his problems. "It was hard to adjust," Lewis said. "I was used to that structure. That whole time (in the Navy) I was doing what I was supposed to do, then I got out and it was just not working."

The 25-year-old father of four is only now addressing anxiety and attention disorders linked to his wartime service and the toll it took on his leg and hearing. A 30-day stay in rehab to get off prescription drugs began his path through veterans treatment court.

"I'm doing really good now," he said.

Russell believes the need for courts like his will only grow, pointing to the 1.6 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has been highly praised by the VA and other veterans organizations.

"What I appreciate about this is this isn't letting people off for what they do, it's just getting them the care that they need," said Patrick Campbell, legislative director for Iraq Veterans of America.

The group has been working with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, on legislation that would provide grants for the creation of veterans treatment courts like the one in Buffalo.

"A lot of veterans, when they come home, find the transition difficult and we all turn to different things to get through those times," said Campbell, who served in Iraq in 2004-05. "If we're not lucky enough to have a strong family social network to hold us together in those difficult times, people turn to drugs, turn to alcohol.

Buffalo has other courts that take a treatment approach, and they have saved taxpayers money by producing lower rates of repeat offending than other courts, said Hank Pirowski, the vets court's project director.

Although the judge is not a veteran, he noticed a bond between vet defendants and Pirowski, who served in Vietnam -- and so he built a mentor program into this court. Twenty mentors take turns sitting in on the court sessions and meet individually with defendants to help them keep up with appointments and benefits applications, or just to talk.

"It's that battle buddy mentality, that teamwork. Who do you want in your foxhole? It's going to be another veteran," said Pirowski, whose stage-whispered "good job" and handshakes are a reassuring presence.

Mentor Jason Jaskula's best friend, Staff Sgt. Christopher Dill, was killed while the two were in Iraq in 2005, and Jaskula had the wrenching duty of accompanying the 32-year-old Buffalo firefighter's body home. Jaskula is convinced the numbers of troops returning with PTSD -- 40,000 since 2003, by the Department of Defense's count -- are underestimated.

Also in the courtroom is Donna Leigh, a substance abuse treatment specialist from the Department of Veterans Affairs. A laptop gives her direct access to defendants' records, allowing her to instantly make and track appointments and link veterans with the government benefits and services they often don't know about.

Public defender Danielle Maichle stands nearby, explaining at the outset: "This is a courtroom where I'm your attorney but I'm not going to do all the talking. You're going to be speaking one-on-one with the judge in every session."

The approach cultivates a sense of trust and understanding, said Guy LaPenna, a 40-year-old veteran with a history of stealing and drug violations. The high-stress life of Navy duty aggravated problems he had before, but he said he left the service an angry alcoholic battling mental health issues.

Russell is "appreciative that we're working so hard," said LaPenna, a high-energy personal trainer. He is following the veterans court program to see a petit larceny charge dismissed, "but the real reward is getting my life back and functioning as a member of society, a productive member of society," he said.

Jack O'Connor, a Vietnam veteran who is on the advisory board of Buffalo's VA hospital, has no problem finding veteran mentors for the sessions.

"We didn't have it when we got out. We were kind of spit on," O'Connor said. "I think these guys know that they don't want that to happen to this group.

"I got arrested when I got out. A lot of us did," he said. "I wish we had a Judge Russell to listen."

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All About Iraq War • Veterans' Affairs • Buffalo (New York)