A Long Beach man who confessed during a jailhouse interview to running over and stabbing a physician bicycling in Dana Point had his criminal proceedings temporarily suspended on Tuesday, Feb. 14, until it can be determined whether he is mentally competent.
Days after 39-year-old Vanroy Evan Smith told a Southern California News Group reporter that he has no regrets for killing Dr. Michael John Mammone because Smith claimed he, Smith, was both God and Jesus Christ, questions about his competency were raised by his defense attorney during an Orange County Superior Court hearing, records show.
To face criminal charges, a defendant must be capable of understanding the court proceedings and assist with the defense. When questions are raised about a defendant’s mental state, experts are generally assigned to evaluate him or her and report back to the judge.
In Smith’s case, a mental competency hearing was scheduled for Feb. 22.
If it is determined that Smith is not mentally competent, he could be sent to a state hospital for treatment. If he is found competent, at this juncture or after a hospital stay, the criminal case would resume.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Smith purposely drove into Mammone on Feb. 1 while the emergency-medicine doctor was riding his mountain bike in the bicycle lane on Pacific Coast Highway at Crown Valley Parkway, sending the doctor into the air.
Smith then got out of his car and stabbed Mammone, who was 58, with a large knife, sheriff’s officials said. Bystanders detained Smith until deputies arrived.
Earlier this month, Smith pleaded not guilty to murder and denied a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.
During his jailhouse interview, Smith denied that he was mentally ill. He described waking up the morning Mammone was run over and stabbed, on Feb. 1, expecting to kill someone by the end of the day. He also described purchasing the knife that day. Smith said he didn’t want to…
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