Psychiatrists say Hayes is sane, not a danger: Hospital offers him only 'a place to stay,' one says at hearing on possible release.

Byline: Dan Galindo

Sep. 19--The state's psychiatric hospital has nothing left to offer Michael Hayes in the way of treatment, the director of its forensic programs testified yesterday.

Hayes, who killed four people and wounded five in Forsyth County 1988, has been at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh since 1989.

Judge Steve A. Balog of Forsyth Superior Court heard the second day of arguments yesterday in a hearing in which Hayes is asking to be released. To be released, Hayes has to prove that he is not mentally ill and that he does not pose a reasonable risk of repeating his violent behavior.

The state's laws on mental-health commitments don't allow Balog to impose any conditions on Hayes if the judge decides to release him.

Dr. Mark Hazelrigg and five other mental-health workers at Dix testified yesterday that Hayes is not mentally ill and is not dangerous.

"He's beyond the point …