The cousin and co-defendant of former Arkansas State Police Lt. Sedrick Reed, who faces an October jury trial on accusations of stealing seized drugs from the agency's evidence room, is mentally incompetent to stand trial, a federal judge declared Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson cited a sealed report written by a forensic psychologist in Colorado who conducted a court-ordered mental evaluation of Lamont Johnson at the request of defense attorney Kim Driggers. The report was filed with the court April 15.
In her Nov. 18 motion requesting the evaluation, Driggers, an assistant federal public defender, said Johnson appeared to be experiencing "severe stress resulting from various medical conditions," and that a look at his medical records showed he'd been assaulted a year earlier.
"His injuries were so severe that he was placed on a ventilator," Driggers wrote. "He suffered fractures to his face which required numerous surgeries. Today, Mr. Johnson has difficulty recalling past events and becomes easily agitated and anxious when he experiences a lapse in memory. He also has difficulty finding the right words for his thoughts. It appears to take him longer than normal to process information and respond appropriately to questioning. Ultimately, Mr. Johnson's condition is interfering with his ability to assist ... in preparation of a defense for trial."
Without revealing details of the mental evaluation, Wilson directed the government to hospitalize Johnson in a federal medical facility to be further evaluated and treated for up to four months. The law requires that Johnson then be re-evaluated to determine whether he is likely to become competent to proceed "in the foreseeable future."
If Johnson isn't found competent to proceed at that point, he must be hospitalized "for an additional reasonable period of time" until his mental condition improves to the point that he can endure a trial, or until the charges against him are dropped, Wilson's order said.
Reed, 44, and Johnson, 46, both of Little Rock, are scheduled for a joint jury trial beginning Oct. 7. It was unclear Tuesday whether Reed would be tried alone if Johnson's competency isn't restored by then.
An indictment handed up in August accuses Reed of stealing drugs and other items from the property room for Johnson, a drug dealer, to sell on the streets.
Both men face prison sentences of 10 years to life if convicted of a drug-conspiracy charge. They also face charges of cocaine distribution and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Reed faces additional charges of possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute, which carry a penalty range of five years to life, while Johnson faces two more gun charges.
The cousins, who grew up in the same household, were arrested in July after FBI agents reported finding cocaine, heroin, cash, a missing state police gun and evidence wrappers from other troopers' seizures of cocaine and heroin at Reed's home, and more cash, a stolen gun, a defaced gun and some drug residue at Johnson's house.
Reed, an 18-year veteran, supervised the evidence room until he was fired after his arrest. He has been in custody ever since, based on a judge's determination that he presents a flight risk and a danger to the community if released.
Metro on 05/23/2014
