Rise in competency tests at Colorado Mental Health institute in Pueblo

Every year judges in Colorado order defendants to undergo exams to see whether they are mentally competent to stand trial. Just in the past few months, many of those orders have been for defendants with cases right here in Colorado Springs.

On Monday, Malik Murphy pleaded not guilty to the killing of his two siblings, and his lawyers are preparing a defense of insanity.

That got us thinking of all the other cases where people will need to undergo exams. Just since the beginning of October, we’ve seen 2 cases be put on hold pending a competency exam.

In May, there were more than 200 prisoners in Colorado County jails waiting for more than 3 months to get competency tests or restoration services at the mental health institution in Pueblo, that’s according to our partners at the Pueblo Chieftain.

One of those cases includes Robert Dear, the man who admitted to shooting and killing three people while injuring others at a planned parenthood.

So what does that do to a criminal case? It’s a question we took to Criminal Defense Attorney Patrick Mika.

“It can delay the proceedings significantly, like we’ve seen in the Dear case. Sometimes individuals never get better, their state of mental health won’t change,” Mika said.

You may remember Edmundo Arellanes-Audelo who is accused of intentionally crashing this Greyhound bus, attacking the driver and threatening passengers.

And Anna Brimm, the woman who is accused of operating an unlicensed day care center in her home full of drugs and a gun.

Both of them are awaiting their competency tests.

“I have seen more of that in El Paso County and I think that’s not only a state-wide but a national consequence,” Mika said.

According to the Department of Health Services, court-ordered competency exams have increased from 429 cases in 2001 to 2,280 last year.

It’s a problem the mental health institute in Pueblo is experiencing first-hand.