Navy M.D. Denied Freedom Before Trial

A military judge ruled Monday that a Navy physician will remain under guard until her trial on two charges of assault.

He also warned Lt. Cmdr. Ann Dalrymple that, while she will be allowed to defend herself, he also holds the option to invoke a plea on her behalf that she is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

The rulings by Capt. Richard Reed, the military judge, came after several days of hearings in which the 37-year-old Navy doctor asked for her release from the women’s brig aboard the USS Acadia so she could adequately prepare her legal defense in connection with the shooting of a psychiatrist and a police officer in September at the 32nd Street Naval Station.

Reed has allowed Dalrymple to represent herself. But the judge said he reserves the right to enter a plea that she is mentally incompetent to stand trial if the case reaches a point where she cannot comprehend that the evidence is building against her.

In his ruling, Reed permitted Dalrymple access each day to the legal library at the naval station but insisted that she otherwise be confined to the ship’s brig.

“The evidence appears to be compelling that it makes it risky to release her at this time because of her distorted perception of reality,” Reed said.

Dalrymple has claimed self-defense in the shooting of Dr. James T. Fowler, the psychiatrist who was shot in a finger as he tried to use a pass key to enter her apartment, and Officer Edward M. Verduzco, who was wounded in the knee as he and fellow SWAT officers stormed her apartment.

Dalrymple has maintained that she was the victim of sexual harassment and was being unfairly stripped of her medical duties. She has contended that she felt threatened by the authorities because she believed they came to her apartment to force her to undergo mental examinations and hospitalization.

In testimony Friday, Capt. Malcolm Law, commanding officer of the Navy medical clinic at the 32nd Street Station, where Dalrymple had worked, said he and other clinic supervisors still believe she is mentally unfit to enjoy full medical privileges.

Law also said his clinic staff considers her a risk to their personal safety. He said she continues to exhibit paranoid delusionary behavior and “a personality that was such that she would try to get some recompense for action taken against her that she didn’t think was right.”

Staffers Feel Threatened

Under cross-examination by Dalrymple, Law said several staff members at the clinic would feel threatened if she were released from the brig.

“I have staff members who feel that because of what has happened, they would feel, in the very least, uncomfortable if she were released,” Law said.

“Why does the staff feel threatened?” Dalrymple asked.

“Because you shot two people,” he said.

“But there’s no other reason?”

“The staff feels you’ve done it before and you could very well light off again and do the same thing all over again.”

In earlier testimony, Cmdr. John Shale, a Navy psychiatrist, testified that he considered Dalrymple both psychotic and delusionary and that she holds “a false belief that we (the Navy) are out to harm her.”

But under cross-examination from Dalrymple, Shale described her as “logical and coherent” and that “there’s no question” she possessed superior knowledge.

A trial date has been set for March 7.