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Judges are finding a growing number of criminal defendants in New York City’s state courts mentally unfit to stand trial, meaning their charges must either be dropped or they must be held in hospitals, not in jail, according to city health data obtained by Gothamist. But the hospitals where the defendants are supposed to go for treatment can’t keep up with the increasing demand, mental health officials, researchers and legal experts said. Instead, the defendants are being held on Rikers Island, which faces the threat of a federal takeover amid high rates of violence.