SISTERS ACCUSED IN DRUG CASE TO BE EVALUATED

Two developmentally disabled sisters accused of selling crack cocaine from
their north side home while collecting Social Security were sent to a
mental health institution Thursday to undergo examinations aimed at
determining whether they are mentally fit to stand trial on felony drug
trafficking charges.

Rose and Annie Day have already undergone two psychiatric examinations and
were twice pronounced incompetent to stand trial, but Circuit Judge Mel
Flanagan ordered the sisters committed for an inpatient exam at the request
of prosecutors.

Authorities' case against the sisters is in jeopardy as it currently stands
because mental health experts who have examined the pair so far have
concluded not only that they are incompetent, but that they are unlikely to
ever become mentally fit to stand trial.

If the case remains in that posture, the charges against the two are
expected to be dismissed without prosecutors ever getting the chance to
prove their case against the sisters.

Rose Day, 57, and Annie Day, 62, were charged in a criminal complaint in
April with selling crack to an undercover police officer on at least four
occasions.

Circuit Court records indicate that narcotics agents from the state Justice
Department targeted the duplex where the Days live for undercover drug buys
beginning in December after a tip. Surveillance of the home in the 2100
block of N. 38th St. showed that people frequently drove up to the duplex,
went inside momentarily, then returned to their cars and left -- activity
often associated with drug houses.

Concerned that the women's mental deficiencies would hinder them in a
courtroom, their lawyers asked that the sisters undergo mental competency
examinations soon after they were charged.

Flanagan sent the sisters to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute Thursday
and scheduled a hearing on the results of their latest examination for next
month.examination for next month.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)