People v. Garcia CA3

I. BACKGROUND

A. Pre-Trial Competency Hearing In 2019, defendant was convicted of crimes against three victims. (See Garcia I, supra, C089036.) Prior to trial, defense counsel raised doubt as to defendant’s competency. The trial court suspended criminal proceedings and appointed Dr. Jason G. Roof to evaluate defendant’s competence. On June 7, 2016, Dr. Roof issued his report. He noted that defendant stopped school after finishing eleventh grade. Defendant had no recorded history of a learning disability or “developmental abnormalities,” but he told Dr. Roof that school was hard for him, and he was held back twice. Dr. Roof observed that defendant demonstrated “fair insight and judgment” throughout the evaluation and his thought process was “logical and linear.” Dr. Roof did not conduct an IQ test, but he observed that defendant’s “level of intelligence appeared lower than average.” Defendant scored above the passing range on a test of mental competence. And Dr. Roof reported that defendant “demonstrated an adequate knowledge of criminal proceedings.” Defendant was able to “understand and describe the roles of key court participants” and he understood the charges against him.…