Mentally ill man charged in Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting can be forcibly medicated

By COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A federal appeals court says a mentally ill man charged with killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015 because it offered abortion services can be forcibly medicated. Monday’s ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld an order issued by a federal judge in 2022 allowing Robert Dear to be given medication for delusional disorder against his will to try to make him well enough to stand trial. Dear’s federal public defenders challenged the order in part because it allows force to also be potentially used to get Dear to take medication or undergo monitoring for any potential side effects to his physical health.