BURLINGTON —Lawyers were back in court Friday arguing over a doctor’s recent finding that the man accused of slaying his wife with a meat cleaver is not competent to stand trial.
Attorney General TJ Donovan refiled charges against Aita Gurung, who is accused of murdering his wife in 2017, in September after Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George dismissed an earlier case against him. George found the state would be unable to disprove Gurung’s planned insanity defense.
After Gurung’s charges were refiled, he was moved out of Department of Mental Health custody and into Department of Corrections custody.
In October, Dr. Jonathan Wekers, a forensic psychiatrist, evaluated Gurung for his competency to stand trial, meaning if Gurung has the mental capacity to currently understand the charges being brought against him. Wekers found Gurung was not.
In the previous proceedings in the case, Gurung had been found competent to stand trial in late December 2017.
Competency is tied to the current mental state of the defendant, and whether an individual is competent to stand trial can change over time. The insanity defense refers only to whether or not the defendant was insane at the time of the alleged crime.
Assistant Attorney General Ultan Doyle called the first witness on Friday, Dr. Catherine Lewis, a forensic psychiatrist and professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, who came to a different conclusion regarding Gurung’s comprehension of the situation.
Lewis agreed Gurung has serious mental health issues stemming from the murder and the charges being refiled. She said Gurung has reported previously that he sees “black chimpanzees” with his eyes open and closed and believes people have been following him closely behind.
But Lewis went on to say that the evaluation does not currently provide evidence Gurung is still experiencing hallucinations, due in part to his previous custody under DMH where he was receiving three different medications and cooperating with treatment.
Lewis pointed to what she called “internal inconsistencies” in the report that show Gurung does understand what is happening. Even though Lewis has not evaluated Gurung herself, she said her review of records led her to determine through Gurung’s cooperation with doctors, his close relationship with his attorney, taking prescribed medications and acknowledging his own mental health struggles, that he understands the charges.
The prosecutor zeroed in on one particular test administered to Gurung called the “15 item memory test,” which Lewis said is “used to assess the potential of malingering.” She said in someone who is not cognitively impared, a score of less than nine, or recreating less than nine of the 15 items, “would potentially be suggestive of malingering.”
Lewis said, in her opinion, for someone like Gurung who grew up without the English alphabet, it would be strange to administer this test to him.
“He’s given three medications that can slow his thinking down,” she said, “and you’re sitting in a stressful environment with an interpreter translating and asking him to recreate American letters.”
Lewis said she would not take Gurung’s score of eight as evidence of malingering, calling that conclusion “silly.” Again, Lewis pointed to inconsistencies in the notes of the report, saying Gurung recalled four of the items and wrote them down twice, leading to a score of eight.
She called the result of four “striking” but also wondered if Gurung truly didn’t understand the instructions of the test because of the language barrier.
She added that Gurung one minute later corrected his responses after thinking about his answers, which she pointed to as evidence of Gurung being able to respond to cues.
“He integrated the information, looked at the test and figured it out,” she said. “So, ironically, this actually shows his capacity to correct himself when cued,” adding this finding shows relevance to defend himself in real time.
Sandra Lee, Gurung’s attorney, called Weker as the defense’s witness. Weker challenged some of Lewis’ opinions, saying Gurung’s mental health has worsened over the last couple months after Donovan announced the refiling of the charges. Weker said Gurung was not receiving the medication he needs while under DOC custody. Lee said Gurung had previously tried to kill himself twice, so corrections staff put him in an anti-suicide smock, a single piece of tear-resistant clothing used to prevent the crafting of a noose.
Weker pointed to DOC documents that show Gurung’s mental health worsening since his move to prison.
“The note says he was observed to be anxious, unable to stay still, signs of hopelessness and statements of nothing to live for,” Weker said. “It also describes mental disorganization, stating that he exhibited quote, ‘disconnected speech, can’t finish an idea.’”
Doyle, the assistant attorney general, asked Weker if a defendant could be anxious and depressed but still competent to stand trial.
“Sure, that’s possible,” Weker responded.
Testimony lasted about seven hours. Through the entirety of the hearing, Gurung, wearing an orange jacket and blue pants, stared at the floor and never looked up, only occasionally moving to take a sip of water.
Judge Samuel Hoar said he had enough information to make a decision but needed some time to process everything he heard.
The court is expected to announce the decision whether or not Gurung is competent in the coming weeks.