The case of Bryant Whitaker, 29, was postponed on March 9–that after another verbal outburst in court, leading defense attorney Matthew Connell to request another psychiatric evaluation to determine Whitaker’s mental competency for trial.
Proceedings are underway before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor, who ultimately approved the postponement request.
Whitaker is charged with first- and second-degree murder and two firearm offenses in the fatal shooting of Markell Wall, 23, who was gunned down in East Baltimore on July 21, 2018. Wall was pronounced deceased upon arrival at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
During the hearing, Connell noted he is missing one of six reports pertaining to Whitaker’s mental competency from last August, and expressed ongoing concerns over the defendant’s ability to stand trial. In order for a suspect to stand trial, he must be mentally competent enough to understand the charges and help his attorney defend the case.
Even if found competent, he can still plead not criminally responsible if he was unable to distinguish right from wrong or behave according to lthe aw during the commission of the crime.
The March 9 hearing marks the first time Connell has spoken with his client, who has reportedly refused the attorney’s attempts to arrange both in-person and remote appointments.
Court records show Whitaker has been hospitalized for mental health concerns since the age of 5. His previous diagnoses include a traumatic brain injury, several psychotic disorders and an intellectual disability, and he has also been placed on anti-psychotics from prior evaluations. Other evaluators claim the defendant suffers from a personality disorder.
Connell cited his own belief that the defendant suffers from anti-social personality that renders him incompetent to stand trial, and requested a 60-day psychiatric evaluation to determine Whitaker’s state of mind.
The prosecutionf denied Connell’s claims and argued the defense had ample time to prepare for the March 9 hearing. Connell maintained that he had never previously met with the defendant, and remained firm in his postponement request.
Whitaker then asked that Connell be fired from the case so that he could represent himself. Connell argued Whitaker was not competent to make that decision, to which Judge Taylor agreed.
Judge Taylor also explained that Whitaker could not represent himself due to his inability to follow the court’s orders. The defendant repeatedly talked over Judge Taylor and counsel throughout proceedings, prompting multiple instructions to remain quiet.
“It is unconstitutional to try someone who is not competent,” said the judge.
The case was sent to Court Medical for a psychiatric evaluation, with the results of the report are scheduled to be finalized by March 24. Whether the case will proceed to trial will depend on the evaluation’s results.
