LAKEPORT — A visiting judge on Monday continued for three weeks a scheduling hearing for the upcoming retrospective competency hearing for convicted wife-killer Gerald Stanley.
Judge William McKinstry presided. Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson represented his office and attorney Jack Leavitt appeared along with Stanley via videoconferencing 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 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 addressed issues pertaining to the case with the attorneys during a hearing in April.
Leavitt requested on Monday that the judge conduct a contempt hearing for one of Stanley”s previous defenders who had not turned over case documents and materials to Leavitt.
McKinstry denied the request, saying no formal order had been made. McKinstry had previously requested that the other attorney voluntarily release any relevant materials to Leavitt but did not issue an order.
McKinstry then continued Monday”s scheduling hearing to June 13 at 8:15 a.m. to allow the current counselors more time to meet and confer.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
