LAKEPORT — Convicted wife-killer Gerald Stanley appeared before the Lake County Superior Court via video conference Monday morning to address issues pertinent to his upcoming retrospective competency hearing.
Judge William McKinstry presided. Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson represented his office and attorney Jack Leavitt appeared along with Stanley from San Quentin State Prison.
A Butte County jury convicted Stanley in 1983 for shooting to death his fourth wife in Nice in 1980 while he had been on parole for killing his second spouse five years before. A separate jury panel then determined Stanley to have been mentally competent, resulting in Stanley receiving a death sentence.
A federal judge overturned the competency ruling in 2008, staying Stanley”s execution because one of the female jurors on the competency panel failed to disclose that she had been a violent-crime victim.
As a result, the issue of Stanley”s mental competency returned to Butte County”s jurisdiction, where a judge ruled in January that it would be feasible for the court to retrospectively determine whether Stanley was competent in 1983. In March, a Butte County judge transferred the competency matter to Lake County.
McKinstry, a visiting judge, was assigned to conduct the retrospective competency hearing because the local judges disqualified themselves.
The judge and attorneys addressed two main issues Monday: Stanley”s physical appearance at future proceedings and the court”s recognition of Leavitt as defense counsel.
Stanley waived his right to physically appear in Lake County for all proceedings related to and including the competency hearing. He will instead appear from San Quentin using video conferencing.
McKinstry then ruled after a 20-minute closed session hearing that Leavitt would be recognized as Stanley”s sole legal representative for the competency matter. A Butte County public defender had most recently represented Stanley, so he would have received a Lake County public defender had the court not recognized Leavitt.
The parties did not set a date for the retrospective competency hearing during Monday”s meeting, as originally intended.
McKinstry ordered Stanley to appear before the Lake County Superior Court via video conferencing on May 23 at 8:15 a.m., at which time a hearing date will be set and the attorneys will announce any stipulations to be made for the record.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
