Psychiatrist recommends release of middleweight champ Taylor

Published Feb. 11, 2015 8:47 a.m. ET

foxsports

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Boxer Jermain Taylor, who is facing charges in two gun-related incidents, could be released on bond but made to wear an ankle monitor, get counseling and submit to random drug and alcohol testing, according to a psychiatrist who evaluated him at his attorneys' request.

Pulaski County judge Leon Johnson said Tuesday that he'll wait to decide if the champion middleweight boxer can go home until state doctors have finished their evaluation of his mental state. Taylor was scheduled to undergo neurological testing Wednesday.

Dr. David Streett of Rivendell Behavioral Health Services hospital testified that the boxer's lawyers had requested for him to be admitted to the hospital and evaluated because there were "concerns he was not really stable to be outside a hospital," The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/17fVjuc) reported.

Streett said the 36-year-old Taylor has likely suffered brain damage from his boxing career, which makes it difficult for him to control himself when using alcohol or marijuana. The psychiatrist also said the boxer has no one in his life who he feels he can trust.

"If he can't control himself, then he doesn't need to be out," the judge said. "If he can't control his impulses, that's a problem." He also said "I don't want to keep him locked up. I'm trying to figure out what's best for him" in regards to Taylor receiving treatment.

Taylor faces charges stemming from the August shooting of his cousin at his home in Maumelle. He's also charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a minor after police said he threatened to shoot a family during a Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Little Rock.

In his assessment, Streett noted Taylor expressed a desire to change and live a better life. The doctor described Taylor as being "a perfect gentleman" while he was hospitalized.

Johnson said Taylor will remain in custody -- though at the hospital -- at least until the judge receives the doctor's written findings and a treatment plan for Taylor. The findings from the state doctors could take weeks.