Mental competency trial for accused Palm Springs cop killer continues
A neuropsychologist testified today that she believes a 27- year-old ex-con charged with the ambush killings of two Palm Springs police officers suffered “traumatic amnesia” and has no remembrance of last fall’s shooting, preventing him from assisting in his defense, though prosecutors grilled her about a potential conflict of interest in the case.
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{“url”:”https://twitter.com/KWidnerCBSL2/status/912457442302115841″,”author_name”:”Katie Widner CBSL2″,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/KWidnerCBSL2″,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FelixTrial?src=hash”&#gt;#FelixTrial&#lt;/a&#gt;: Defense disagrees. Prosecution says 75% of rules have been violated. Judge decides to dismiss court for the day. Back at 9 a.m.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Katie Widner CBSL2 (@KWidnerCBSL2) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/KWidnerCBSL2/status/912457442302115841″&#gt;September 25, 2017&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
Dr. Hilda Chalgujian took the stand at the outset of a mental competency trial for John Hernandez Felix, who faces charges of murder and other counts that could result in the death penalty.
To obtain a mental incompetency finding from a judge, Felix’s attorneys need to provide “substantial evidence” that their client, who’s being held without bail, does not understand the nature of the criminal proceedings against him and cannot assist them in his defense.
Chalgujian testified that Felix — who is charged with fatally shooting veteran training Officer Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, and rookie Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27, last Oct. 8 — told her that he does not recall shooting anyone, though he remembers what brought the officers to his home and recalls
his arrest following a 12-hour standoff.
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Chalgujian said she believes that Felix’s amnesia is “legitimate,” but conceded upon questioning by the prosecution that the defendant could be inventing the memory lapse.
She also said claims of traumatic amnesia were more common in suspects of violent crimes, particularly homicides and attempted homicides, and could not recall an instance during her career where traumatic amnesia affected the suspect, rather than the victim, of a violent crime.
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However, she said that Felix’s “sub-average intelligence” and documented substance abuse could have contributed to poor memory.
Assistant District Attorney Michelle Paradise also questioned Chalgujian on her association with defense attorney John Dolan’s Desert Trial Academy, an Indio-based school where he serves as dean. In addition to practicing psychology for about 30 years, Chalgujian is a fourth-year law
student at the academy and works as a law clerk under Dolan, but said she is receiving no compensation for furnishing her report on Felix, nor was she promised anything in regards to her academic career.
Paradise estimated that Chalgujian violated around “75 percent” of the American Psychological Association’s code of ethics in her evaluation of Felix.
Though Chalgujian said Felix’s claimed memory loss could affect his competency, two other psychologists, Drd. William H. Jones and Michael Kania testified that they felt he was competent to stand trial.
Jones testified that Felix told him he was suffering from hallucinations and “presented himself as a childlike person who did not understand why he was being incarcerated.”
However, Felix’s familiarity with the criminal justice system through his prior convictions were part of what led Jones to conclude that Felix understood what he was facing. Jones said that after talking with the defendant, he “believed (Felix) had more understanding than he was
admitting.”
Jones said there were no indications that Felix suffered any emotional trauma consistent with traumatic amnesia.
Kania testified that Felix said he was aware that he was potentially facing the death penalty and that he didn’t believe Felix was being entirely truthful with him during portions of their interview in June.
Both Jones and Kania also said that even if Felix were diagnosed with amnesia, it should not affect his ability to assist his attorneys.
Felix is accused of shooting Vega, Zerebny and a third officer through the metal screen door of his home when they responded to a family disturbance call. He also allegedly fired on two of their colleagues, who were not struck by the gunfire
District Attorney Mike Hestrin has alleged that Felix — who’s accused of donning body armor and firing armor-piercing rounds from an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle — specifically targeted police.
“This individual knew what he was doing. His actions were deliberate. He attacked these officers for no other reason than they were there, answering a call for service,” Hestrin said when the charges were announced last fall.
The deaths of Vega and Zerebny marked the first time Palm Springs police officers had been killed in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 1962, when Officer Lyle Wayne Larrabee died during a vehicle pursuit. The only other death in the department was that of Officer Gale Gene Eldridge, fatally shot Jan. 18, 1961, while investigating an armed robbery.
Vega had been with the department for 35 years — five years past his retirement eligibility — and had planned to finish his career last December. He had eight children, 11 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Zerebny had been with the department for a year and a half and had just returned to duty from maternity leave after the birth of a daughter, Cora, four months before her death.
More: I-Team and Stands for You investigations
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