2nd report finds beatings suspect unfit for a trial
One jailer died in 2016 attack
TEXARKANA — A second psychologist has deemed an Arkansas prison inmate incompetent to stand trial in the 2016 beating death of a female correctional officer at the Miller County jail.
Tramell Mackenzie Hunter, 28, is charged with capital murder in the Dec. 18, 2016, death of correctional officer Lisa Mauldin, who died after being attacked in the kitchen of the Miller County jail. Hunter also is charged with battery of a peace officer, accused of causing serious injury to correctional officer Damaris Allen. The state is seeking the death penalty in the case.
Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson ordered a mental evaluation of Hunter last year after Hunter’s lawyer, Ron Davis of Little Rock, entered a plea of innocent by reason of mental disease or defect.
In May, Johnson ordered that Hunter be returned to the State Hospital for further evaluation after receiving a report from the State Hospital that Hunter was incompetent, suffering from a schizophrenic-type disorder and in need of further evaluation.
Prosecutors provided the State Hospital staff with additional mental-health records on Hunter. The latest report, written by State Hospital supervising forensic psychologist Michael Simon, includes a finding that Hunter suffers from mental illness that has rendered him legally incompetent.
Defendants are considered incompetent if they are unable to understand the proceedings going on around them, unable to understand the criminality of the actions for which they are charged, or unable to assist their lawyer in mounting a defense.
Hunter’s evaluation notes that he has an understanding of the legal system and knows the difference between right and wrong, but he has a grandiose view of himself and delusions of persecution that affect his ability to work with his lawyer.
The evaluation says Hunter believes he has a “special relationship with God” and that others — including judges, jail staff members and other inmates — are conspiring against him and trying to make him a “snapper,” which Hunter defines as “snapping under pressure.”
Hunter said he and Mauldin had a close relationship until others worked to “turn her against me and she was falling for it,” according to the evaluation.
Hunter and Mauldin can be seen exchanging words on video surveillance before Hunter attacks her, knocks her to the kitchen floor and pummels her into unconsciousness, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Mauldin died later that day at a hospital.
Allen walks in during the assault on Mauldin and is attacked, knocked to the floor and beaten with her radio and Hunter’s fists, according to the affidavit.
Hunter’s mental evaluation states that he does not trust his lawyer. The evaluation states that he believes the prosecutor would drop the charges against him if Hunter had a chance to explain himself and that a plea of “not guilty by probable cause” would better suit his case than innocent by reason of mental disease.
Probable cause is a standard of proof used in the legal system and not a defense of criminal conduct.
According to his evaluation, Hunter believes he is not responsible for Mauldin’s death or the assault on Allen, and that it was “all on them, the jail staff.”
The report says that while Hunter’s evaluation indicates that his factual understanding of court proceedings is unimpaired, his rational ability to consult with his attorney and his rational understanding of the proceedings is “extremely and severely impaired.” The report notes that Hunter’s “paranoid beliefs have reached a psychotic level to the point where his contact with reality is impaired.”
The evaluation diagnoses Hunter with a “delusional disorder, persecutory type,” and with “paranoid personality disorder with narcissistic traits.”
At the time Mauldin and Allen were attacked, Hunter was assigned to the Miller County jail as part of an Arkansas Department of Correction 309 Program, which allows certain offenders to serve their sentences in county lockups. He was serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated robbery and two counts of felony domestic battery as part of a plea bargain in Pulaski County.
Hunter shot his uncle when the uncle tried to stop him from stealing his mother’s car and then fired a second shot, striking his mother, before driving away in her rented Dodge Charger, according to case records. Hunter’s mother and uncle survived after surgery.
Hunter is scheduled to appear before Johnson next week for a status hearing.