Doctor says man who allegedly bit out sons eye not competent to stand trial, judge orders second opinion
| Thursday, Jul 23 2009 11:02 AM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 23 2009 11:06 AM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Angelo Vidal Mendoza in court Thursday for his mental competency hearing to see if he will stand trial in the assault of his 4-year-old son.
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A doctor has said that the man who allegedly bit out the eye of his 4-year-old son is not competent to stand trial -- but the judge has ordered a second opinion.
Angelo Vidal Mendoza, 34, will come back to court Aug. 25 after he's examined by Dr. Luis Velosa, a psychiatrist. The prosecutor asked for the second opinion because Mendoza's medication is at issue. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has been trained in medication issues.
Mendoza has been examined by Dr. Carol Hendrix, a psychologist, who found that Mendoza is not competent to stand trial unless he regularly gets medication to control seizures and paralysis problems, defense attorney Richard Terry said.
Terry noted that without his medication, Mendoza can have side effects as serious as death. He alluded to problems Mendoza may be having with the jail on whether he's being taken to his doctor's office to get medication as often as he needs.
That prompted Judge Jerold Turner to say, "The sheriff's office has been put on notice. If something happens the county is on the hook. He needs to be transported to obtain his medication."
The judge also said that unless another opinion was issued, he would have to find that Mendoza was not mentally competent to stand trial.
Medication will be an important issue in any trial that Mendoza has on mayhem and torture charges in the April 28 biting attack on his son, Angelo Mendoza Jr.
Police first believed that Mendoza was under the influence of PCP during the attack, but subsequent reports say no PCP was found in the home.
Mendoza told officers he had stopped taking his prescription medication. He also told police that in the weeks before the attack he felt anxious and was seeing things that weren't there.
After the attack, Mendoza rolled his wheelchair to a backyard of a vacant home and cut his own legs with an ax and a broken ceramic plate, police said. Mendoza has been in a wheelchair for several years after he was stabbed in a robbery attempt and became partially paralyzed.
Thursday was the first time since Mendoza's arrest that he came to court wearing jail clothes. In previous court appearances he was in hospital gowns that were covered by blankets.
During a June 16 hearing, Mendoza appropriately answered questions froth the judge in a strong voice. But a week later, Mendoza was not brought to court and his attorney said Mendoza was at Kern Medical Center and unable to talk at all.
That's when Terry asked for Mendoza to be examined to determine if he was competent to stand trial.
The boy was initially reported to be blinded in both eyes by the attack, but he has since regained sight in his right eye. He is doing well in a local foster home.
Two of his uncles and his mother, 23-year-old Desirae Bermudez, are seeking custody, but hearings are pending.
More than $24,000 has been donated through an account known as The Baby Angel Fund in Wells Fargo Bank. The money is being raised through the Forever Changed Christian motorcycle group.
