Sex offender fit to stand trial

Sex offender Jose Albert Santos has been deemed competent to stand trial of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in 2014.

In a 16-page order on Monday, Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo determined that the 55-year-old Santos is able to understand the character and consequences of the proceedings against him and is able to assist in his defense.

There will be a status conference on April 4, 2017.

In 2014, the Office of the Attorney General charged Santos with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree and two counts of disturbing the peace.

Santos was arrested in October 2014 and was placed under house arrest after posting a $50,000 property bond.

The boy alleged that Santos had been sexually abusing him since September 2014 and would give him from $2 to $10 after each incident.

Santos’ lawyer, assistant public defender Michael Sato, asked for a psychiatrist to evaluate his client’s mental state for competency.

The competency hearing was held on Dec. 16 and 29, 2016. Assistant attorney general Shannon Foley argued for the government.

At the hearing, the prosecution presented Dr. Dennis Donnovan, an expert in clinical and forensic psychology. The defense called Dr. Martin Blinder, an expert in forensic psychiatry.

Both experts appeared via Skype and telephone.

The defense also called to the witness stand Santos’ sister and third-party custodian to provide additional testimony.

Blinder said that Santos is not mentally competent to stand trial as he has an organic brain disease and suffers from mental retardation.

Donovan said that Santos suffers from significant hearing loss that may be responsible for a wide range of functional and language related deficits but he did not appear to have cerebral deficits nor is he mentally retarded. He found that Santos is competent to stand trial.

In his ruling, Govendo gave more weight to Donovan’s opinion.

Govendo said Donovan’s evaluation was conducted over a longer period of time; he was recommended by the attorney general of Hawaii as one of the leading experts in his field; although he testified that this was his first time providing services to the Commonwealth, he has been qualified as an expert in forensic psychology in all of the courts in Hawaii.