UCCS double murder suspect to be evaluated for ability to assist attorneys in his defense
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Defense attorneys for Nicholas Jordan, the man accused of killing two people on the campus of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, are questioning whether he has the ability to assist them in his own legal defense.
In court Monday, El Paso County Judge David Shakes approved a request to have Jordan evaluated by a psychologist at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo at some point over the next month.
This evaluation will determine two key factors of his mental condition: whether he understands the court proceedings and can work with his defense attorneys to form a defense.
Typically, that evaluator will travel to the El Paso County Jail and conduct the evaluation there. After that report is authored, Jordan has a right to challenge it depending on the outcome. If he is deemed incompetent to proceed, he would be permanently committed to the Colorado Department of Human Services to be restored.
When Judge Shakes asked Jordan if he knew why he was present in court Monday, Jordan replied by saying, "I just want to say I've been incompetent." Shakes then explained that the evaluation will determine if that is the case or not.
Shakes said in court he believes competency evaluations in first-degree-murder cases take precedence over those in other lower-level cases, but the hope is that Jordan can be seen before his next hearing on April 12.
As criminal defense attorney Jeremy Loew explains, there is a major backlog in people getting treatment who are found incompetent to stand trial.
"The backlog at the state hospital has been going on for years. There have been lawsuits after lawsuits after lawsuits trying to get more funding for incompetent individuals," Loew said. "They're kind of sitting in custody indefinitely awaiting a hearing or trial to be restored back to competency."
KRDO13 Investigates asked the Colorado Department of Human Services what the state of that backlog is right now. They say the average wait time for restoration services is 94.4 days for inpatient restoration at any CDHS facility (including both mental health hospitals in Pueblo and Denver, jail-based restoration and private hospital beds.) It's an area they say they've have made huge strides in.
"This has been a source of frustration for many, many people and certainly here at the department as well," DHS Director of Behavioral Health, Leora Joseph said. "However, we're making huge strides and our backlog has dropped significantly over 100 people in the last six or eight months or so."
Joseph said DHS has developed "creative solutions" to combat this backlog and lessen the burden on people awaiting restoration treatments. These include applying restoration services in the community, giving beds to patients who need them most, and opening more housing opportunities to people who are able to be discharged from the mental hospital.
As Monday's hearing concluded, Jordan asked the judge how he, or someone else, would go about trying to post his evaluated $5 million cash-only bond.
Jordan said, "If someone wanted to pay the $5 million bond, where would we pay that?"
Judge Shakes did not answer the question. Instead, he recommended that Jordan speak with his defense attorney before "asking a question out loud like that," Shakes said.
