Bureaucratic confusion became the defining characteristic of a hearing on June 14 to decide a defendant’s competency.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gale E. Rasin postponed attempted homicide defendant Jesse Freels’ mental health court date to sort out possibly conflicting information on two cases, one from the city’s Circuit Court and the other from District Court.
Both had NCR (not criminally responsible) pleas attached and were put on the single competency report, leading to confusion.
Karyn Meriwether, counsel for the 22-year-old defendant, said she needed time to discuss with her client how he wished to proceed, including the possibility of extending his evaluation.
Judge Rasin addressed her concern that Freels may lack a significant mental illness and, thus, they can proceed with a residential rehabilitation program. She also said that since Freels was not present at this hearing, she would postpone the hearing until he was able to attend the following week.
Freels is accused of attempted first- and second-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several weapons charges during a Jan. 24 incident.
Officers were monitoring security footage when they spotted Freels walking into the metro station with a handgun on him. A detective ran tests to see if this gun matched a gun used in the 200 block of N. Eutaw Street shooting on the Jan. 24. The gun was a match and Freels was arrested.
