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Judge Finds Planned Parenthood Shooting Suspect Unfit for Trial Judge Finds Planned Parenthood Shooting Suspect Unfit for Trial
(35 minutes later)
COLORADO SPRINGS — A Colorado judge on Wednesday declared the confessed gunman in a shooting rampage last November at a Planned Parenthood clinic here mentally incompetent to stand trial. Three people were killed and nine were wounded in the attack. COLORADO SPRINGS — Robert L. Dear Jr., the self-described “warrior for the babies” who defiantly admitted to carrying out a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood center here last November, was declared on Wednesday unfit to stand trial by the judge overseeing the case.
Judge Gilbert Martinez said that the man, Robert L. Dear Jr., had delusions and paranoia that impaired his understanding of the proceedings and made him unable to work with his defense lawyers. The ruling by Judge Gilbert A. Martinez found Mr. Dear to be mentally incompetent, and said Mr. Dear suffered from wide-ranging delusions that the federal government had been following and spying on him for years. The judge’s ruling largely relied on the reports of two state psychologists who examined Mr. Dear this winter and said they believed he was not competent.
He ordered Mr. Dear to a state mental hospital where he will be treated until he is declared competent. “That’s called prejudiced! Prejudiced!” Mr. Dear shouted at the judge as he was led out of the courtroom here on Wednesday, shackled and wearing jail scrubs. “Filthy animal!”
Mr. Dear has been charged with 179 counts, including first-degree murder and attempted murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. The ruling brought the criminal case against Mr. Dear to what the district attorney called “a standstill.” Mr. Dear will be sent to a state-run mental hospital for treatment aimed at restoring him to competency, a legal standard that requires him to understand the court proceedings and help in his own defense.
Mr. Dear admitted to the shooting during a court appearance on Dec. 9, when he declared, “I’m guilty. There’s no trial. I’m a warrior for the babies.” “Now we wait 90 days,” Dan May, the district attorney of Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District, said at a news conference outside the courthouse. “It is what it is.”
Mr. Dear has been charged with 179 counts, including first-degree murder and attempted murder, stemming from the Nov. 27 shooting spree at the Planned Parenthood center here. Three people were killed, including a campus officer from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs who had joined dozens of medics and officers rushing to the scene. Nine people were wounded.
Mr. May did not address questions about what might happen if Mr. Dear refuses treatment or medication. In court outbursts and conversations with mental-health experts, Mr. Dear has made it abundantly clear that he believes he is competent. He has tried to fire his defense lawyers, and accused the judge of trying to silence him.
On Wednesday, as lawyers, reporters and a handful of family members waited in the hushed courtroom for the judge to take the bench, Mr. Dear continued his outbursts. He called out, “Anybody want to know why I did it? What gives me the right?”
A sheriff’s officer standing nearby motioned to Mr. Dear with his hand, and said politely, “Mr. Dear, stop.”
Mr. Dear has described the Planned Parenthood clinic that he struck as the most evil place in the world.
He engaged in an hourslong standoff with the police before surrendering. He later told a detective that he had decided to surrender because he had flipped a card while he was in a back room of the Planned Parenthood building, pinned down by the police. He said he had taken it as a message from God.
The competency evaluation was ordered by Judge Martinez after Mr. Dear tried to fire his public defenders and serve as his own lawyer.The competency evaluation was ordered by Judge Martinez after Mr. Dear tried to fire his public defenders and serve as his own lawyer.
Two state psychologists who examined Mr. Dear concluded that he was not fit to stand trial. One, Jackie Grimmett, said Mr. Dear had multiple delusions that distorted his reality. For instance, for 20 years he had thought that “the feds” were after him, and had planted a listening device in his pickup truck. He described the Planned Parenthood clinic that he struck on Nov. 27 as the most evil place in the world. Two state psychologists who examined Mr. Dear concluded that he was not fit to stand trial. One, Jackie Grimmett, said Mr. Dear had multiple delusions that distorted his reality. For instance, for 20 years he thought that “the feds” were after him, and had planted a listening device in his pickup truck.
Mr. Dear has insisted that he is competent and ready to stand trial. A Colorado Springs police detective said at a hearing last month that Mr. Dear had told him during more than seven hours of questioning after the shooting that he feared an insanity ruling would diminish his anti-abortion message.Mr. Dear has insisted that he is competent and ready to stand trial. A Colorado Springs police detective said at a hearing last month that Mr. Dear had told him during more than seven hours of questioning after the shooting that he feared an insanity ruling would diminish his anti-abortion message.