Planned Parenthood shooter ruled incompetent to stand trial

An El Paso County judge has ruled Robert Dear still incompetent to stand trial Monday.

Both parties agreed the Planned Parenthood shooter was still incompetent and another hearing is set out for another 90 days. Dear was not in court on Monday, and as far as we know he is not taking medication from the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP).

Dear faces 179 felony counts for the mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs on November 27, 2015. Dear is accused of shooting and wounding numerous people and killing three.

In January the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the district court’s order authorizing the staff at the CMHIP to forcibly medicate the Planned Parenthood shooter in hopes of restoring him to competency to stand trial.

Robert Dear tried to appeal the district court’s order, arguing that the People failed to establish the legal requirements for involuntary administration of medications.

In previous hearings, Dear has been found incompetent for trial and has been diagnosed with a severe delusional disorder. For more than 20 years, Dear has believed that federal government agents are involved in a conspiracy against him, and the staff at CMHIP are a part of that conspiracy. He has been refusing to take medications at the facility.