Man charged with assaulting father pleads not guilty by reason of insanity — will get treatment

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A man charged with assaulting his father with a hammer pled not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges against him during a brief appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court Friday. The state did not contest the defense and the not guilty plea was accepted, closing the criminal case. Forty-three-year-old Adam Blake Rush was placed in the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services to undergo mental health treatment.

Rush was earlier found not fit to proceed after being given a psychological examination. An order was filed in late August last year placing Rush in the custody of the Department of Human Services for treatment aimed at restoring his mental fitness to proceed. During that period, his treatment was mainly carried out by Ozark Guidance and was conducted at the Baxter County Detention Center (BCDC) except for a period in the fall of 2023 when he was admitted to an outside mental facility for a time.

Rush has told the court on more than one occasion that he wanted to plead “not guilty by reason of insanity.”

Rush has also told the court that he has spent a large amount of his jail time in an isolation cell and BCDC records confirm his statement.

He has been placed in the general population at the jail four separate times but has always had “issues” with that arrangement and was returned to the isolation cell.

Rush was charged with aggravated assault and domestic battery.

Rush’s father and mother gave investigators different stories than did their son about an incident that occurred in late February last year.

Rush was arrested after Baxter County sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence along Kelly Lane after receiving a call about 2:30 a.m. from a female reporting that Rush, identified as her son, had attacked her husband.

When the father was interviewed, he said the couple had been in bed when they heard a knock at the front door and someone yelling.

The victim said he opened the door for Rush who then punched him in the face and swung a hammer at his head. He told deputies he managed to dodge a direct blow from the hammer, but the claws of the hammer hit him in the shoulder.

According to the probable cause affidavit, there was “obvious bleeding” from two puncture wounds on the victim’s shoulder.

The victim said he fought back and was eventually able to break away from his son, go into the house and lock the door. At that point, a call to 911 was made.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Rush had a different take on the fight. He told deputies his father hit him “for no reason,” but he was unable to remember details of the incident.

Rush’s parents attended several court sessions, including the one last week.

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