DA likely to contest Laurint’s mental health evaluation
EL CENTRO — The Imperial County District Attorney’s Office indicated in court Wednesday that it plans to contest the findings of a mental health evaluation determining whether murder defendant Ioan Laurint is competent to stand trial.
Although the findings of the mental health evaluation were not publicly disclosed in court Wednesday, their contents appear to have prompted some concern within the DA’s Office.
“The people do not intend to submit on this report,” Assistant District Attorney Deborah Owen told county Superior Court Judge Christopher Plourd.
The plan to contest the findings of the mental health evaluation will necessitate a separate trial on the issue of competency, Owen said after Wednesday’s brief court hearing.
Citing the potential trial, Owen declined to discuss the contents of the separate reports that were authored by two county Behavioral Health Services employees.
The reports in question were not publicly accessible from the court’s electronic filing system on Wednesday.
Laurint had been ordered by the court last month to undergo a mental health evaluation after San Diego-based defense attorney Donald Levine had raised doubts about his client’s competency to stand trial.
Prior to Owen acknowledging her intention to contest the findings, Levine had requested a week’s continuance, indicating that he hadn’t had time to review the mental health evaluations submitted Friday.
Plourd granted the continuance and parties are scheduled to return to the El Centro courthouse on Wednesday for a potential ruling on the matter of competency.
Ultimately, the court has final say about any decision regarding a defendant’s competency and is not bound by the evaluators’ recommendations, according to information found on the American Judges Association’s website.
Defendants found incompetent may have their trials postponed until they regain competency or have the charges dismissed, the AJA reported.
Incompetency is centered on whether a defendant is able to understand the charges they face and participate in their defense. Incompetency differs from a so-called “insanity” defense, which is based on a defendant’s condition at the time of the alleged crime.
Laurint, who is currently in custody, could be observed moving his lips, as if softly speaking to himself, while he sat in the jury box on Wednesday.
He is accused of fatally stabbing El Centro-based attorney Ann Marie Zimmermann on Feb. 17, 2017, at a motel room in El Centro. He previously told investigators that he had no recollection of how Zimmermann had died.