US citizen who attacked Moscow policeman deemed unfit to stand trial and must remain in psychiatric care

A Moscow court has declared an American man, Joseph Tater, unfit to stand trial and ruled that he be held in a psychiatric clinic to undergo compulsory treatment, the court’s press service reported on Tuesday.

When informed he would be unable to check into a Moscow hotel due to an error in his paperwork in August, Tater reportedly lost his temper with reception staff and was taken by hotel security to a nearby police station. There, he allegedly “pushed a police officer and hit him on the forearm”, according to state-affiliated business daily RBC.

Tater was subsequently charged with attacking a police officer and placed in pretrial detention. He was released from custody last month on the condition that he remain in Russia, according to RBC.

A commission of psychiatrists tasked with evaluating Tater’s mental health identified several disorders including impulsiveness, delusion and a lack of critical faculty, TASS said. The doctors requested that Tater be hospitalised, and he has been undergoing compulsory treatment in a psychiatric clinic ever since.

Tater pleaded not guilty to assaulting the police officer at a preliminary hearing in March, saying he had wanted to claim political asylum in Russia, but didn’t have time to file the paperwork due to his arrest.