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Man found incompetent to stand trial for alleged sex abuse
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Posted on Jun 13 2012
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has found a man accused of sexually abusing a boy to be incompetent to stand trial and ordered that the suspect be tested to see if he will regain his competency.
Camacho determined yesterday that he cannot at this time determine that Wilfredo Imperial Jr. has shown by a preponderance of evidence that there is no substantial likelihood that he will regain competency within 90 days.
Camacho stayed his decision regarding the 90-day period issue, pending further testing and treatment to determine Imperial’s likelihood of regaining competency.
The judge determined that the 30-year-old Imperial lacks the ability for now to consult with his lawyer with a degree of rational understanding and lacks a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.
“In this court’s view, the apparent complexity of [Imperial’s] case, the relatively short interview conducted without a Chamorro interpreter, and the lack of evidence regarding treatment in [his] case warrant further psychological testing to determine whether [Imperial’s] present conditions can be remediated to make him competent within the statutory period,” said Camacho in a 17-page order.
The Office of the Attorney General had charged Imperial in November 2011 with various crimes related to his alleged sexual abuse of a then 13-year-old boy.
In December 2011, the defendant’s counsel, chief public defender Adam C. Hardwicke, asked that Imperial be made to undergo a competency evaluation. Dr. Reinhold Meister did the competency evaluation.
In his order yesterday, Camacho said that he will commit Imperial to an evaluation facility for 14 days, where he can be tested and treated. A hearing will then be held to determine Imperial’s likelihood of regaining competency.
