PTSD on Trail: The case of Sgt. Binkley

Imagine your son coming back from serving his country in such pain, you didn't know what to do. Imagine this son was always honorable, always seemed to do the right thing for the right reasons. Then think of having to turn him in to law enforcement for committing a crime. Read this story and if you don't see the kind of pain Sgt. Binkley was in along with his family, then you can never understand what families across the country have to go thru all the time. Loving them leads to very hard choices. Sometimes the choice is letting them live in the same house with you or sending them away. This is faced on a daily basis but it's kept quiet as if there is something to be ashamed of instead of being assured everyone you know would understand exactly what PTSD is and would be supportive. Now imagine someone you love having cancer and then being afraid to talk about it because someone wouldn't be able to have any compassion or judge the person you love. You wouldn't imagine such a thing but again, when it comes to PTSD, that's what families deal with all the time.

Ex-Army captain won't do time for two holdups
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 18, 2009


(02-18) 18:09 PST REDWOOD CITY -- A former Army captain who said he had robbed two Bay Area pharmacies of painkillers to try to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder will receive mental health treatment rather than prison time.

Sargent Binkley, who served in Bosnia and Honduras, pleaded no contest Wednesday in a Redwood City courtroom to one count of robbery, which had the same effect as pleading guilty.

The deal with prosecutors capped a legal saga that spanned San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and became a rallying point for advocates of service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders.

Binkley, 34, could have been sentenced to at least 12 years in state prison because he used a gun while robbing two Walgreens pharmacies in 2006 - one in Mountain View on Jan. 20, the other in San Carlos on March 3.

In January, however, a Santa Clara County jury found Binkley not guilty by reason of insanity in the Mountain View robbery, and a judge sentenced him to at least six months in Atascadero State Hospital. Binkley will be released when doctors conclude he is no longer a threat to himself or others.

San Mateo County prosecutors, predicting a similar outcome if the San Carlos robbery went to trial, agreed to a deal in which Binkley will get credit for time served and five years of probation.

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