#competency-evaluation

#competency-evaluation

Sometimes, you don't have to make every argument in the alternative. For example, the prosecutors in Littlejohn v. State of Texas had a number of avenues to challenge a competency evaluation request from the defendant's counsel. The defense sought to check the defendant's mental competence after learning that the court clerk observed the defendant masturbating during testimony at the punishment phase of his trial. We've all heard some wanky testimony before, but this takes it to another level.

Brian Walshe will appear in court Monday for his final pre-trial conference before jury selection begins in his case. Prosecutors are charging him with killing his wife, Ana, on New Year's Day in 2023. Ana Walshe, a Cohasset mother of three, went missing around New Year's Day that year. Prosecutors allege her husband, Brian Walshe, killed and dismembered her before disposing of her remains.