Posted 8:49 am Monday, November 02, 2009
Judge: John Tyler Stabbing Suspect Fit To Stand Trial
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
Smith County Judge Floyd Getz today ruled that the 16-year-old youth who is accused of fatally stabbing John Tyler High School teacher Todd Henry in September is competent to stand trial.
Staff Writer
Smith County Judge Floyd Getz today ruled that the 16-year-old youth who is accused of fatally stabbing John Tyler High School teacher Todd Henry in September is competent to stand trial.
Henry, a special education teacher, was stabbed in the neck and chest inside of his classroom on Sept. 23, allegedly by the youth who is in custody at the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center.
Defense Attorney Jim Huggler said he filed the motion to determine competency on the day the youth was arrested in the stabbing, after spending six hours speaking with him.
“I have spent about 30 hours with him since then,” Huggler told the judge, "and most of his answers are monosyllabic, and he doesn't understand or remember our conversations.”
In a recent meeting with the youth, Huggler said he commented on the color of the orange jumpsuit the youth was wearing, telling him it was a nice orange color.
“About 15 minutes later, I told him I thought he was wearing a nice red shirt, and he agreed with me that it was red.”
Huggler said his client does not comprehend information, adding that he does not know why Judge Getz waited until Monday to issue the competency ruling. He said that his client had been in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission, which diagnosed the youth with schizophrenia in 2007 or 2008 for other issues which he did not name. The TYC sought and got a civil commitment for the youth to Terrell State Hospital in May. Huggler said the youth returned from the hospital and was back with the TYC in June.
Huggler said he had requested documents from the TYC for the hearing repeatedly, but had never received them.
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Taylor Heaton read from documents provided by Terrell State Hospital from May, which stated that the youth's mental status was “alert and oriented, and his thought process seems goal-directed.”
Judge Getz, who took some time before the hearing to read the documents from the hospital, said that the records showed some manipulative behavior on the part of the youth.
“What you're telling me is not consistent with what I am reading,” said Getz. "There is not probable cause that he is unfit to proceed."
A self-described spokesman for the family of the accused teen said shortly after the hearing that Huggler was an incompetent legal representative. Bishop L.J. Guillory, who came to Tyler in September to hold a town hall meeting shortly after the stabbing occurred and represented himself as an ombudsman for the U.S. Department of Justice, spoke to media gathered outside the courtroom.
"The attorney has been offered the services of a criminologist from Wiley College, which he has refused," Guillory said.
The teen's mother, who stood next to Guillory as he spoke, said "we just have to let go and let God."
A Tyler Morning Telegraph investigation revealed Guillory does not work for the Department of Justice.
Huggler did not wish to comment on Guillory's statements, except to say that expert help had never been offered to him, and he would be happy to accept such help if it were offered.
"I disagree with the Judge's interpretation," he said of Getz's decision to declare the youth competent to stand trial.
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 at 8:48 a.m. CST
“I have spent about 30 hours with him since then,” Huggler told the judge, "and most of his answers are monosyllabic, and he doesn't understand or remember our conversations.”
In a recent meeting with the youth, Huggler said he commented on the color of the orange jumpsuit the youth was wearing, telling him it was a nice orange color.
“About 15 minutes later, I told him I thought he was wearing a nice red shirt, and he agreed with me that it was red.”
Huggler said his client does not comprehend information, adding that he does not know why Judge Getz waited until Monday to issue the competency ruling. He said that his client had been in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission, which diagnosed the youth with schizophrenia in 2007 or 2008 for other issues which he did not name. The TYC sought and got a civil commitment for the youth to Terrell State Hospital in May. Huggler said the youth returned from the hospital and was back with the TYC in June.
Huggler said he had requested documents from the TYC for the hearing repeatedly, but had never received them.
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Taylor Heaton read from documents provided by Terrell State Hospital from May, which stated that the youth's mental status was “alert and oriented, and his thought process seems goal-directed.”
Judge Getz, who took some time before the hearing to read the documents from the hospital, said that the records showed some manipulative behavior on the part of the youth.
“What you're telling me is not consistent with what I am reading,” said Getz. "There is not probable cause that he is unfit to proceed."
A self-described spokesman for the family of the accused teen said shortly after the hearing that Huggler was an incompetent legal representative. Bishop L.J. Guillory, who came to Tyler in September to hold a town hall meeting shortly after the stabbing occurred and represented himself as an ombudsman for the U.S. Department of Justice, spoke to media gathered outside the courtroom.
"The attorney has been offered the services of a criminologist from Wiley College, which he has refused," Guillory said.
The teen's mother, who stood next to Guillory as he spoke, said "we just have to let go and let God."
A Tyler Morning Telegraph investigation revealed Guillory does not work for the Department of Justice.
Huggler did not wish to comment on Guillory's statements, except to say that expert help had never been offered to him, and he would be happy to accept such help if it were offered.
"I disagree with the Judge's interpretation," he said of Getz's decision to declare the youth competent to stand trial.
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 at 8:48 a.m. CST
