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Judge declares Campo man sane, and released unconditionally
By Neal Putnam
For The Alpine Sun
SAN DIEGO—A Campo man who was committed to a state
mental hospital in 2007 after a judge found he was insane when
he set four brush fires has now been declared sane and no longer
a danger.
Frank Joseph Paipa, 63, appeared before San Diego
Superior Court Judge David Danielsen on May 14 for a hospital
parole hearing. Paipa had already been released on a supervised
outpatient program, and a representative of that program
appeared with him that day.
Danielsen reviewed all the psychological reports and made the
determination that Paipa had regained his sanity and was no
longer a danger. The judge ordered him unconditionally released
from the local county program that monitored him.
Paipa set four brush fires on Sept. 21, 2006, in the
Campo area. Paipa pleaded guilty to all four arson charges in
May, 2007, and El Cajon Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos
ruled that he was insane at the time. Exarhos committed him to
Patton State Hospital, but ruled that Patton could not keep him
more than 19 years, which is the maximum sentence Paipa could
have received without the insanity ruling.
The mental hospital petitioned the court in Dec., 2008,
saying
that Paipa's mental state had improved, and recommended he be
placed in an outpatient program. Paipa was ordered released in
March, 2009, to an outpatient program in San Diego whenever a
bed became available.
Paipa may still live or participate with some type of
program, but the judge's ruling formally restored his sanity. He
served 338 days in county jail before he entered the mental
hospital and while he was waiting for release, according to
court records.
Paipa's ruling came in the morning on May 14, as that
afternoon in the same courtroom, Danielsen sentenced John
Gardner III, 31, to two life terms without the possibility for
parole for the murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois with
much media attention.
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