LAKEPORT — A judge Monday scheduled the retrospective competency hearing for convicted wife-killer Gerald Frank Stanley to occur at the Lake County Courthouse in mid-August.
Judge William McKinstry presided over the scheduling hearing. 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. However, a federal judge overturned the competency ruling in 2008, staying Stanley”s execution because one of the jurors on the panel failed to disclose that she had been a violent-crime victim.
A Butte County judge then ruled it would be feasible to look back and determine whether Stanley was competent during the penalty phase of the trial. The retrospective competency matter was transferred to Lake County in March.
McKinstry opened Monday”s hearing by informing the attorneys that the court received a correspondence from Stanley arguing a conflict could exist with Anderson prosecuting the case.
Anderson, a former Lake County Sheriff”s Office deputy, confirmed after the court session that while on duty one night in 1980, he participated in a search for Stanley.
Anderson said he did not find Stanley that night, and there is no legal conflict precluding him from taking part in the competency hearing.
McKinstry said he would not take action on Stanley”s apparent request for Anderson”s disqualification, in part because defense counsel made no formal motion on the matter. Leavitt told the judge he and his client were satisfied with that decision.
Stanley later formally waived his right to a jury panel, permitting McKinstry to make the final determination after the retrospective competency hearing.
One of the main issues the court will consider during the hearing will be whether Stanley rationally cooperated with his defense during the penalty phase of his 1983 trial, according to Leavitt.
McKinstry scheduled the retrospective competency hearing for Aug. 17 at 8:15 a.m.
