Depending on which forensic psychologist you listen to, the homeless man accused of stabbing a pregnant woman to death in Oldtown Salinas in 2019 has been restored to mental competency and can proceed to trial in the killings of the woman and her fetus, or he’s so overwhelmed by paranoia fueled by the voices inside his head that competency, if it’s ever achieved, is still a long way off.
The dueling testimony came during a competency hearing for Garrett Scheff, who was arrested within minutes of the Nov. 19, 2019, killing of Mariana Jurado. The 26-year-old woman had left her Clay Street apartment that morning to go to work when Scheff allegedly set upon her; her screams brought out neighbors who called 911 and Jurado lived long enough to describe her attacker.
In January 2020, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Mark Hood ordered Scheff to undergo a mental health evaluation, based on issues raised by Scheff’s defense attorneys. He was found not competent and enrolled in
Jail-Based Competency Training, an intensive program at Monterey County Jail involving therapy, medication and role playing in an effort to help a defendant understand the court proceedings they face, enable them to cooperate with their attorneys and assist in their defense and restore them to competency.
Scheff’s hearing started on March 9, then continued on March 16. Forensic psychologist Thomas Reidy, called by Deputy Public Defender Michelle Wouden, testified that on two evaluations of Scheff, he found Scheff consumed with the idea that a former warden at Salinas Valley State Prison was stalking him. Scheff believed someone had implanted a device in his brain to interfere with his thoughts and spoke about “a female with a cell phone” causing him brain disturbances.
“He would answer questions appropriately in some areas, but when I tried to delve into his reasonsings, that’s when I would start seeing delusions emerge,” Reidy testified. “There was a great deal of interference from psychosis that would keep him from relating to his lawyer.”
But psychologist Kim Mitchell, who leads the Jail-Based Competency Training program, said that Scheff had successfully completed the 90-day program. On his first evaluation after joining the program last August “he was very guarded, very paranoid and was responding to internal stimuli, talking to himself in his cell.”
As the program continued, he became less paranoid, more outgoing, participated in the classes and was able to speak rationally and logically.
“He also stated that he was more than likely never getting out, that he was spending the rest of his life in prison,” Mitchell testified.
Because Scheff was last evaluated on Jan. 4, Hood asked Reidy to do a fresh evaluation, the results of which will be heard in court on April 1. If competency has been restored, it’s unclear if Scheff can maintain that competency until the case goes to trial, an event that’s still months away.
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