Gauntt Zoom

Family members said they were so frustrated, both by Gauntt's behavior and their inability to get him psychiatric treatment, that they sought a no-trespass order against him last week and called the police when they believed he was violating the order Friday.

Gauntt died of two bullet wounds after he broke into his mother's Portsmouth Street house and threatened a police officer with a knife, authorities say.

In interviews, several family members said that over the years, they brought Gauntt to the Concord Hospital emergency room, a local branch of the National Alliance for Mental Illness and Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord. This May, according to Gauntt's sister Kelly, family members tried to have Gauntt admitted to the New Hampshire Hospital, the state's residential psychiatric hospital, but they were told that he didn't meet the standards for commitment.

"Maybe these professionals need to take another look at what does meet criteria," Kelly Gauntt said.

In order for a mental health worker to admit an unwilling patient into a psychiatric ward, there must be a serious likelihood that the patient will harm himself or someone else. The health worker also needs to find that that risk is the result of mental illness alone and not alcohol or drugs. In order to hold a patient for more than three days, that professional must convince a judge of their determination.

Lengthier commitments must be approved by a probate judge at a different hearing.

"If the person is not wanting help, it's very hard to get them to a doctor to get the help that they need," said Jane Bradstreet, the register of probate for Merrimack County, which decides more than 95 percent of the state's civil commitment cases. "It's very difficult for families."

Current laws have evolved from earlier ones that made it much easier to commit people against their will. Many were overturned in the 1960s and 70s after courts ruled that the interests of the patients needed to be protected as much as those of family members. Those decisions made the process of getting a mental health commitment more like a criminal procedure, where the state has to prove wrongdoing before it can lock someone up.

"The laws have changed largely as a result of court decisions that say if you're going to take someone's liberty away, whether for a bad reason, a crime, or for health reasons, certain rights have to be respected," said John MacIntosh, a Concord lawyer who often represents patients during civil commitment hearings. "You have this natural tension between family members and treating professionals wanting to help someone who is in distress . . . and the individual who oftentimes, and I think this is characteristic of people with mental illness, who don't want this intrusion into their life."

In Gauntt's case, the same family members who worked hard to get him psychiatric care also found themselves calling the police when his behavior was out of control. When he was drinking or not taking his psychiatric medications, Gauntt was often threatening and violent, they said. Gauntt's Concord District Court criminal record includes 27 misdemeanor charges. Court records also indicate that Gauntt had at least two felony convictions.

In July, 2004, his sister Mary Lou Voghel called 911 after Gauntt choked her and her mother following an argument.

"Voghel stated that her brother has mental health issues and she was very afraid what Gauntt may do," said a police affidavit written by Concord officer Michael Pearl, who responded to the call.

A motion hearing penned by Gauntt's lawyer, Christine Haydinger, described his illnesses. "Mr. Gauntt has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression, panic attacks, and an anxiety disorder," it reads. "Mr. Gauntt has no memory of this incident because he was not taking his medications."

Gauntt was found guilty of two counts of assault, resisting arrest, and violating bail conditions and was sentenced to three months of jail time and probation. His arrest came quickly on the heels of his release from jail on another charge. He was later found guilty of violating his probation.

Just last week, Gauntt's relatives also sought a no-trespass order to keep him from his mother's house, and they called the Concord police when they saw a light on in his mother's empty house Friday afternoon. They believed Gauntt was inside. That call resulted in his death, after he allegedly threatened a police officer with a knife and was shot in the kitchen of the house.