People v. Bender CA1/4

BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged in three criminal cases filed between April 23, 2019, and November 12, 2021. On November 30, 2021, the court declared a doubt as to defendant’s competency in each of the three cases. It subsequently suspended all criminal proceedings and appointed doctors to evaluate defendant pursuant to section 1369, subdivision (a). On January 20, 2022, Dr. Stephanie Williams submitted a report finding that defendant suffered from a delusional disorder and lacked the ability to participate in his own defense in a rational manner. Her report detailed defendant’s delusions of grandiosity as well as his history of presenting to hospital emergency departments complaining of having a tapeworm inside his body and spiders in his anus. Dr. Williams further opined that defendant could not disclose pertinent facts to his attorney or testify relevantly in court.

2 On January 26, 2022, the prosecutor and defendant’s counsel submitted the issue of defendant’s competence to the court. Relying heavily on the report of Dr. Williams, the trial court found defendant IST and referred him to a local conditional release program (CONREP) for a report and recommendation as to…