THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110318
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Attorneys for John C. Salvi III, accused of killing two people at Brookline, Mass. abortion clinics, said for the first time Monday that they believe he is not competent to stand trial.
``At least at the time Mr. Salvi was sent to (a state hospital for the criminally insane for evaluation), Mr. Salvi was incompetent'' and could not help with his own defense, Janice Bassil, one of Salvi's attorneys, said during a hearing Monday in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass.
``I think he's mentally ill,'' Bassil told reporters after the 45-minute hearing on evidence before Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara. ``He has difficulty ascertaining what facts are . . . real.''
Although Bassil and her partner, J.W. Carney Jr., had suggested that Salvi may not be mentally competent, they had not stated it as directly as they did Monday.
Salvi, 22, an apprentice hairdresser from Hampton Beach, N.H., allegedly entered two clinics providing abortions and other women's health services on Dec. 30 and shot seven people, killing two. Salvi was arrested in Norfolk, Va., on Dec. 31, on charges of firing into the lobby of the Hillcrest Clinic building.
He is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital, a process not expected to be completed before May 10.
Bassil said that before Salvi can be judged competent to stand trial he must have the ability to help them construct his defense. ``I don't think he has that capacity at this point,'' she said.
An initial 20-day evaluation period is up on April 19, but attorneys agreed that the Bridgewater staff would probably want another 20 days to complete their work. In 18 years, ``I have never, ever seen Bridgewater prepare a report in 20 days,'' said Carney.
Prosecutors Monday pressed defense attorneys to indicate what their line of defense would be. ``Our hands are tied at this point,'' Bassil told the court, because they are awaiting the Bridgewater evaluation.
Carney said that he spoke to his client by phone Monday and that Salvi was ``in his own world'' at Bridgewater. When the evaluation is complete, Salvi, who did not appear in court Monday, will be returned to an isolation cell at the Norfolk County Jail in Dedham.
He is charged with two counts of murder in the killings of Lee Ann Nichols, 38, and Shannon Lowney, 25. He also faces five counts of assault with intent to murder, in connection with five others who were wounded.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ABORTION CLINIC SHOOTINGS HEARING JOHN SALVI by CNB