Latest news with #mentalcompetence
Fox News
08-07-2025
- Fox News
Illegal immigrant killer of Laken Riley wins unexpected court victory for mental evaluation
The illegal immigrant killer convicted in the death of Georgia college student Laken Riley won a court victory Thursday when a judge ruled he should be mentally evaluated after his attorney claimed last year that he wasn't competent to stand trial. Jose Ibarra was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the death of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student. The judge who issued the sentence, Judge Patrick Haggard, on Thursday ordered that the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) conduct a mental evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial and assist with post-conviction proceedings, meaning his appeal case. In June, Ibarra's attorneys said they believe their client is "suffering from congenital deficiency which could render the client incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial," the New York Post reported. They claimed that he "lacks the mental capacity to understand the nature and object and proceedings and counsel believes that this was in existence at the time of the offense and at the time of the trial." "The mental competence of [Ibarra] has been called into question, and this court has found it appropriate for an evaluation to be conducted at the public expense," Haggard wrote in his order. He ordered the Georgia Department of Corrections to partner with DBHDD for the "prompt evaluation" at a GDC facility or a hospital. In court documents, prosecutor Sheila Ross said there was no evidence during his trial that suggested Ibarra wasn't mentally competent. However, she didn't oppose Ibarra getting evaluated and left it up to Haggard to decide, the Post reported. Ibarra, 27, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, attacked and killed Riley as she was jogging along trails near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus. Prosecutors said Ibarra saw Riley running along popular trails on UGA's campus just after 9 a.m. and attacked her, dragged her 64 feet into a wooded area and beat her head with a rock repeatedly, killing her. The case attracted national attention because of Ibarra's illegal status. He entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole. He was arrested by the New York Police Department in August 2023 and was "charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation" before making his way to Georgia.
News.com.au
19-06-2025
- News.com.au
Carlie Eileen Richards declared not guilty after fatal Port River Expressway crash
The woman at the centre of a crash that killed a young woman and injured three others will not be held responsible for the carnage, after a judge declared she was suffering delusions in the moments before the collision. Carlie Eileen Richards was driving on the Port River Expressway in Adelaide's outer north on November 1, 2022, with meth in her system and at average speeds of 157km/hr in the seconds before she rear-ended a Toyota Prius. The impact pushed the Prius into a lane of oncoming traffic, and it smashed into another car and then a van. Erica Hoy, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Prius, was killed in the horror collison. Her sister Lisa, driving the car, suffered serious injuries and two others - John Reader and Klio Bruckner - were also hurt. Ms Richards was charged with four counts of leaving the scene of an accident after causing death or harm, one count of causing death by dangerous driving, and three of causing harm by dangerous driving. The objective facts of the case are not disputed. Richards pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the accident, but pleaded not guilty to causing death and harm, citing 'mental incompetence' as her defence. In order to be declared mentally incompetent, a court must find that a person suffers from a mental impairment and, as a result, does not know the nature and quality of the conduct or does not know the conduct is wrong. On Thursday morning at the South Australian District Court, Judge Carmen Matteo accepted Richards' claims. Judge Matteo said she found on the balance of probabilities that Richards was suffering an acute relapse of schizoaffective disorder - causing 'paranoid or persecutory delusion' - at the time, and so did not know her conduct was wrong. 'That is, she could not reason about whether her conduct - as perceived by reasonable people - was wrong,' she said. 'I find the defendant was mentally incompetent to commit the offences of aggravated causing death by dangerous driving and three counts of aggravated causing harm by dangerous driving.' In her published reasons, Judge Matteo said a forensic psychiatrist had determined Richards was mentally incompetent in the moments before the crash. Richards, 41, believed she was being chased by a 'small security vehicle', the judgment reveals. Judge Matteo said there was no dispute between the defence and prosecution that Richards was suffering from a mental impairment, but the 'issue in contest' was whether or not she knew her driving conduct was wrong. The prosecution contended Richards' conduct and the question of her mental competence should be attached to her 'mere act' of driving, rather than the manner of her driving before the crash. But Judge Matteo rejected that argument, saying it was the act of driving dangerously that constituted the offence. 'I accept (the psychiatrist's) conclusion that at the time of driving, the defendant was suffering from persistent persecutory delusions, which were a product of the relapse of her schizoaffective disorder,' she said. 'The experience of such delusions formed part of the defendant's mental state both before and after the collision.' Judge Matteo also rejected the prosecution's argument that Richards' leaving the scene of the crash indicated her mental competence with respect to her driving, given their closeness in time. Richards, appearing via videolink, wept as Judge Matteo delivered her ruling. She will next appear in court on July 25.
Washington Post
18-06-2025
- Washington Post
Mentally ill man unlikely to be prosecuted in stabbing of U.S. Senate aide
A man charged with stabbing a U.S. Senate aide in a random attack two years ago has again been found mentally incompetent to stand trial, making it unlikely at this point that he will ever be fully prosecuted for the nearly fatal assault. After Glynn Neal, 44, underwent 10 examinations by psychiatrists hired by defense attorneys and prosecutors, D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd E. Edelman said Wednesday that the suspect will probably never be mentally competent enough to understand the nature of a criminal trial and assist in his defense. Neal had previously been found incompetent for a trial, but Wednesday's ruling was more pessimistic that the situation will ever change.
CBS News
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Jennifer Aniston's alleged stalker found not mentally competent to stand trial
The man alleged to have crashed his car through a gate at the Bel-Air mansion of actress Jennifer Aniston has been ruled not mentally competent to stand trial. Earlier this month, 48-year-old Jimmy Wayne Carwyle was arrested in connection with the incident. According to prosecutors, the Mississippi man has repeatedly harassed Aniston through online messages and voicemails. She was home when he attempted to ram through the gate, police said. Jimmy Wayne Carwyle was ruled not mentally competent to stand trial on Thursday, May 29, 2025. KCAL News Last week, a psychiatrist ruled that Carwyle was not mentally competent to stand trial. A judge allowed him to seek a second opinion, which came back Thursday. Now, criminal proceedings for Carwyle will be delayed as he seeks mental treatment. He's facing one count each of felony stalking and felony vandalism. If convicted, Carwyle could face three years in state prison.
