Opinion
Criminal Action No. 11-cr-000501-REB
05-28-2012
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. 2. ALEJANDRO GONZALES-SEPULVEDA Defendant.
MOTION TO VACATE CHANGE OF PLEA HEARING AND MOTION DETERMINE COMPETENCY
COMES NOW, Defendant Alejando Gonzales-Sepulveda, through counsel, hereby moves this Court for an Order vacating the change of plea set for May 30, 2012. Defendant further moves this Court, pursuant to U.S. Const. Amend. V and IX, and 18 U.S.C. §4241 for a local psychiatric examination or an examination to determine whether the Defendant is mentally incompetent to assist in his defense in this case. As grounds, Defendant states:
1. The Defendant has filed a notice of disposition with the Court. The change of plea hearing is set for May 30, 2012. Defendant is currently in the custody of the United States Marshal. Defendant is housed in the Douglas County Jail and is also subject to an ICE hold.
2. Undersigned counsel and the Defendant have met numerous times to discuss and decide how to proceed with this serious case. Undersigned counsel has reason to believe that the Defendant may be suffering from a mental disease or defect that renders the Defendant unable to properly assist his counsel in the defense and the course of Defendant's case.
3. 18 U.S.C. 4241 provides that a court shall grant a motion to determine
competency if the defendant, the court or an attorney for the government raises the issue. Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402 (1960); United States v. Williams, 113 F.3d 1155, 1161 (10th Cir. 1997).
4. Counsel for the Defendant hereby requests that the Court commit him to the custody of the Attorney General for a reasonable period of time to psychologically evaluate the Defendant or such period of time as is necessary for Defendant to attain the capacity to permit the proceedings to go forward.
5. Following the last meeting with the Defendant during the week of May 21, 2012, undersigned counsel attempted to confer with government counsel Kasandra Carleton, counsel for the government; however, the government's position on this motion is not known at this time.
WHEREFORE, Defendant respectfully requests that the change of plea hearing be vacated, that the Court order a psychological evaluation of the Defendant and conduct a hearing on Defendant's competency pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §4241.
Respectfully submitted,
________________
Jonathan S. Willett
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this 12th day of January 2012, a true and correct copy of the foregoing MOTION was mailed electronically via the ECF system to:
Kasandra Carleton, Assistant United States Attorney
Kasandra.Carleton@usdoj.gov
Susan Knox, Assistant United States Attorney
Susan.Knox@usdoj.gov
Jonathan S. Willett