Jeffrey Richard Weinman is led into a Deschutes County courtroom in 2008.

A Bend man convicted of attempted murder in the July 2007 beating of a young woman near Drake Park could soon be released to a housing facility in Bend, a move the victim’s family plans to fight.

In 2008, a Deschutes County Circuit Court judge found Jeffrey Richard Weinman guilty but insane for his random, midday attack on 22-year-old Meredith Graham at the corner of Northwest Nashville Avenue and Northwest Harmon Boulevard in Bend. At Weinman’s trial, witnesses said he ran at Graham, screaming, and began punching her. When Graham fell to the sidewalk, Weinman kicked her and then kneeled down and continued punching her until a passer-by pulled him away.

Graham suffered a concussion, a punctured lung, broken ribs and a broken nose.

During the trial, the defense argued that Weinman attacked Graham, whom he did not know, because he was in a psychotic rage sparked by severe epileptic seizures.

The judge agreed, and ordered Weinman committed to the Oregon State Hospital for up to 20 years.

Now, less than 2 1/2 years after he was sent to the hospital, he could be on his way out.

Weinman, now 42, has been asking to be released since he was committed, arguing that he does not have a mental disease or defect. This year, officials at the Oregon State Hospital determined that he’s made progress with his treatment and could be a good candidate for conditional release to an outside treatment facility.

The Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board directed Deschutes County Mental Health staff to perform an independent assessment of Weinman, and local officials agreed that Weinman was ready to be moved to a residential treatment center in northeast Bend. The facility has round-the-clock staff and residents are required to attend treatment and follow a curfew, but they are allowed to come and go.

Mary Claire Buckley, the board’s executive director, said the group was set to review the recommendation and make a decision on Monday. But after the Oregon Department of Justice objected to the matter being decided without a full hearing — in which the victim and her family could testify — the board put the brakes on the process.

Several options

A hearing has been set for Dec. 1. Buckley said the board will hear from mental health professionals who have evaluated Weinman, the Department of Justice, Graham’s family and Weinman himself.

If Weinman can convince the board that he does not require further treatment at the hospital and is not a threat to others, he will be released.

“If he were found not to have a mental disease or defect, the board would have no choice but to discharge him,” Buckley said.

The board could opt to place Weinman in the residential facility or in a more secure facility set to open in Bend in January. Buckley said board members might also decide based on testimony at the hearing that Weinman should be released to a treatment center outside of Deschutes County. In either case, she said he’ll have to follow a list of conditions that will include regular treatment sessions and drug tests.

It’s also possible that Weinman might be ordered to stay in the Oregon State Hospital, though he could get a conditional release at some point in the future.

Community safety

Of the 734 people currently under the supervision of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board, 374 are on conditional release around the state. Nine of those people live in Deschutes County.

Lori Hill, the county’s adult treatment program manager, said people who move to a treatment facility outside the Oregon State Hospital do so only after a thorough review. She said the recidivism rate — the percentage of people who commit felony crimes after getting a conditional release — is about 2 percent, much lower than the rate for other people released from custody.

“We see individuals under (the board’s supervision) do very, very well,” she said. “They have the resources they need to get the services they need. If they don’t follow through with the recommendations, we’re very quickly able to return them to the state hospital as needed.”

Tony Green, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said it’s too soon to say exactly what his department will push for in Weinman’s hearing. But he said the primary issue of concern is the safety of the community.

“Sometimes the only way to keep the community safe is to keep the person in the hospital, unless there are circumstances under which we can adequately safeguard the community,” he said.

Weinman’s attorney, Harris Matarazzo, did not return calls for comment.

‘She has a hard time’

Graham, now 25, had been living in Bend for about a year before the attack.

She suffered from a learning disability and an anxiety disorder that made it difficult to leave her house, but according to her stepmother, Julianna Graham, the young woman was making progress.

The assault left her bruised and battered and suffering from serious psychological problems. When she was released from the hospital, Meredith Graham moved in with her parents in Novato, Calif., where she continues to live.

Julianna Graham said she once believed her daughter would be able to live independently. After the attack, she’s not so sure.

“Because of this, she cannot get a job, cannot hold a job, she can barely be in public,” she said. “We can’t take her to a Fourth of July picnic. She has a hard time being around her own family.”

Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Kandy Gies, who prosecuted the case, argued during the trial that Weinman acted deliberately when he assaulted Graham, a man who tried to help her and three police officers who were called to the incident.

“It was a horrific tragedy for all involved, and specifically for Meredith Graham,” she said. “It was unimaginable, based on her limitations and challenges, to have something like this randomly happen to her.”

Still a threat?

When he committed Weinman to the hospital, Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Michael Sullivan said he believed Weinman to be a danger to the community because of a history of violent outbursts after seizures and observed that Weinman had struggled with methamphetamine and alcohol use.

Aaron Craig, the passerby who pulled Weinman off of Graham, said this week that he’s not sure it’s time for Weinman to be released. At the trial, Craig, a former sheriff’s deputy who was then working as a social worker, testified that Weinman threatened him as he restrained him and began saying, “I am God,” as police tried to take him into custody.

“If the doctors think he’s not a harm, I suppose they’re the experts,” Craig said. “But I still don’t think he’s received any punishment for what he did and regardless of his excuses, he still deserves some for his actions.”

If Weinman had been found guilty of attempted murder but not found to be insane, he would have faced a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years, six months in prison and another three years of post-prison supervision.

Julianna Graham said she’s been waiting to tell her daughter about Weinman’s hearing, because she’s worried about how she’ll react.

Graham said she believes people can be rehabilitated, but will tell the board that not enough time has passed for Weinman to be released.

“I think it’s too soon, we think it’s way to soon,” she said. “The punishment didn’t fit the crime.”