The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has ruled that two men charged with violent crimes but found incompetent to stand trial cannot be reindicted in those cases years later unless the state “has a good faith belief” the men have become competent.
John Wesley Ray was indicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder and lesser offenses in Harford County Circuit Court in February 2001. A paranoid schizophrenic, Ray was found not competent to stand trial in January 2002.
Michael Lee Adams was indicted on charges of attempted first-degree rape and related offenses in 1998 in Baltimore County Circuit Court and was found incompetent to stand trial because of his limited cognitive ability.
The Maryland criminal code states that, unless the state petitions the court for extraordinary cause to receive an extension, courts have to dismiss charges against an incompetent defendant charged with a felony crime or crime of violence after the lesser of either five years or the length of time of the maximum sentence for the most serious defense charged, according to the opinion.
Ray’s indictments were dismissed more than five years after he was found to be incompetent, but he was reindicted on the same charges, according to court documents.
Adams’ original indictments were eventually dismissed without prejudice, but he was reindicted on the same charges, the opinion said. Ray and Adams both filed motions to dismiss their reindictments but these motions were initially denied. But the special appeals court reversed those dismissals.
Although the code states that these cases should be dismissed without prejudice, the special appeals court ruled that the people should not be reindicted following a dismissal under this code section until the prosecution “can articulate a good faith basis to believe that the defendant has become competent to stand trial.”
The special appeals court added that as long as the defendants remained incompetent, the state could initiate proceedings to change the men’s confinement from criminal to civil if they wanted the defendants to remain confined.
