Accused serial killer of San Diego
homeless declared fit for trial
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[March 21, 2017]
By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A San Diego man
charged with impaling five street people with railroad spikes, killing
three of them, was declared on Monday to be mentally fit for trial in a
crime spree that terrorized the homeless community of California's
second-largest city last summer.
Jon David Guerrero, 40, who has a history of mental illness and lived in
"supportive housing" for homeless and individuals with special needs
before his arrest, is expected to enter a plea to charges of murder,
attempted murder and arson when he returns to court next month.
During a brief hearing in Diego County Superior Court, defense lawyers
accepted the finding of doctors treating Guerrero that he been restored
to mental competency, meaning he is capable of understanding the charges
against him and assisting in his own defense.
Judge David Danielsen agreed, officially declared Guerrero fit for trial
and ordered him to return to court on April 4 for arraignment.
Guerrero, dressed in green jail garb and shackled at the wrists,
appeared subdued and stood expressionless in a small glass-enclosed
chamber within the courtroom. He said nothing during the proceedings
except to answer "yes" when the judge asked if he understood he was
consenting to waiving the customary 72-hour deadline for arraignment.
The ruling, following two court-ordered psychiatric evaluations, does
not preclude Guerrero's attorneys from later mounting an insanity
defense - an attempt to prove the accused did not understand the
difference between right and wrong at the time a crime was committed,
public defender Dan Tendon said.
Guerrero is charged in five attacks over 12 days last July in which he
is accused of driving railroad spikes into the heads of his victims, and
setting two of them on fire. The body of the first victim was also found
impaled in the chest. The two survivors told police they were attacked
as they slept.
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Jon David Guerrero, 40, appears with Public Defender Danesh Tandon
at a competency hearing charged with attacking five homeless men by
driving railroad spikes into the heads of his victims, killing three
of them in San Diego, California, U.S., March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike
Blake
All the victims were homeless men living on the streets or in vacant
lots around San Diego. Authorities have not offered a possible
motive for the attacks.
Guerrero was previously convicted of robbery and had been sent to a
state psychiatric hospital at least once in the past, according to
prosecutors. Court records show five prior mental health matters
filed under his name since 2008, all under seal.
If convicted of the charges against him, Guerrero would face a
maximum penalty of life prison, unless prosecutors were to choose to
seek the death penalty.
(Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by James
Dalgleish)
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