FAYETTEVILLE -- A Springdale man in jail more than three years awaiting trial on a murder charge may no longer be competent to stand trial, according to his lawyers.
Juan Pablo Perez-Lopez, 30, is charged in Washington County Circuit Court with capital murder in the death of Jesus Cecilio Villalobos, 48, in Springdale on Feb. 13, 2013. Villalobos was stabbed multiple times.
Competency
In criminal law, a defendant’s mental competency may be questioned out of concern for the defendant’s welfare or for strategic legal reasons. The defense may request a competency hearing so that it can gather information to use in plea bargaining, to mitigate a sentence or to prepare for a potential insanity defense. If the court finds that the defendant is incompetent, the defendant may be hospitalized for a reasonable period of time to determine whether the defendant’s competence can be restored.
Source: Staff report
Perez-Lopez has pleaded not guilty. He's being held in the Washington County jail without bond, which is typical in capital cases. Perez-Lopez had been in jail for 1,233 days as of Friday.
Leana Houston, Perez-Lopez' attorney, recently reported to Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay she was concerned about her client's cognitive ability to work with her. Houston told Lindsay that Perez-Lopez always has had trouble communicating with her, but it has worsened over time.
An earlier examination at the Arkansas State Hospital found Perez-Lopez fit for trial.
Houston's questions about Perez-Lopez' condition resulted in a court-ordered evaluation of his intellectual and neurocognitive functioning. Results of that evaluation were filed Friday.
Dr. Brittani Baldwin Gracey, a neuropsychologist at the State Hospital, returned a possible diagnosis of unspecified neurocognitive disorder. The cause of Perez-Lopez' impairment remains unclear, but "it appears that he has experienced cognitive and functional decline over the course of his current incarceration, with possible onset in 2012," according to Gracey's report.
Perez-Lopez was jailed on an unrelated charge in 2012.
Gracey noted a more definitive diagnosis isn't possible given Perez-Lopez reported no current symptoms himself.
Prosecutor Matt Durrett said Friday he hasn't had a chance to thoroughly review Gracey's report.
"This is the first time that I've had this happen, where somebody has been deemed competent to stand trial or fit to proceed and then some time later, when they're doing some follow-up thing, all of a sudden now they're not fine -- it doesn't flat-out say that, but it says he might not be," Durrett said. "We're going to have to feel our way through it and see what we can do."
Durrett expects Lindsay will hold a hearing unless the two sides can reach an agreement.
Motorists called Springdale police about two men fighting on Huntsville Avenue and said one of them had a knife and was riding away on a bicycle.
Police found Perez-Lopez on a bicycle with a knife and bloody hands, then found Villalobos in a parking lot with multiple stab wounds to his chest and his throat cut, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Perez-Lopez told police he went to a Wal-Mart, stole a knife and returned to Latino Tires with the intention of stabbing Villalobos because he thought Villalobos was making fun of and taking advantage of him. Perez-Lopez said he stabbed Villalobos, an auto mechanic, about 20 times at the business and in the street, according to the affidavit.
The case has been delayed repeatedly to allow for evidence to be processed, a change in judges and for mental evaluations to be completed.
Capital murder, if convicted, is punishable by life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
NW News on 07/02/2016