Last May, at the start of a court hearing conducted over Zoom, David Russell brought what he felt was a pressing matter to the judge's attention. "I had two friends that were going to testify on my behalf, Vassil Vutov and John Mayo, and I don't see them," the 44-year-old computer programmer pointed out. "In addition, I was aware that a bunch of other people planned to show their support, joining this hearing as observers."
Russell wasn't in court because of a crime he had committed; he was there to defend his right to refuse an invasive medical treatment. Due to his alleged "medication non-compliance and psychosis," clinicians from Rochester, Minnesota's renowned Mayo Clinic were seeking a court order to administer electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) over Russell's objection.
If Russell lost in court, the clinicians would be granted permission to administer up to 30 rounds of ECT over a six-month span. Assuming they followed standard protocol, a team of hospital staffers would start each session by sedating Russell with an anesthetic, attaching electrodes to his head, and applying approximately 120 volts of electricity for between one to six seconds, long enough to produce a brain seizure lasting around one minute.
