Insanity Rejected as High School Siege Defense : Courts: Youth, 15, is accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.

The attorney for a teen-age student accused of shooting a boy in the face and holding a drama class hostage at an Anaheim high school said Tuesday that he will not use insanity as a defense, raising the possibility that the youth will plead guilty.

Cordell L. (Cory) Robb, 15, reportedly beset with family problems, is accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of false imprisonment and bringing a firearm onto school grounds.

If convicted, he could be imprisoned in the California Youth Authority until he turns 25.

Gary L. Proctor, Cordell’s court-appointed attorney, said before the youth’s pretrial hearing in Juvenile Court here: “There’s no defense. . . . It’s not a matter of what he did; it’s a matter of what we can do to help him.”

On Oct. 5, the ninth-grader armed himself with a handgun and shotgun, walked into a drama class at Loara High School in Anaheim and shot Anthony Lopez, also 15, in the left side of his face, police said.

Lopez had reportedly told Cordell that he did not think the gun was real.

Cordell held students at gunpoint for about half an hour while talking with police on a classroom telephone. Then he surrendered.

A month ago, at Proctor’s request, Juvenile Court Judge C. Robert Jameson appointed Dr. Ernest Klatte, a psychiatrist, to assess Cordell’s mental stability and determine whether the youth is fit to cooperate with his attorney.

Proctor said after the hearing the evaluation was needed to determine “why he acted the way he did and what we can do and try and help him.”

Based on the evaluation, Proctor said, he will not pursue a defense of insanity or diminished capacity.

“He was neither,” he said about Cordell before the hearing, adding that his client is competent to stand trial and fit to cooperate in the case.

At the Tuesday hearing, Jameson ordered that a probation officer prepare a report on what types of rehabilitation would be available for Cordell and where he might be housed.

Cordell was present at the hearing, his hands cuffed behind his back. Another hearing was scheduled for Dec. 14.

Last month, Jameson ruled that Cordell represented a threat to himself and others and must be detained indefinitely. He will be held in Juvenile Hall during his trial.

Proctor did not oppose the ruling. He said his client had been placed on a “suicide watch” for a short time after his arrest.

Cordell took the class hostage in a bid to get his stepfather’s attention so they could discuss their problems, Proctor said.

He said that the family is moving to Northern California and that the youth no longer wants to live with his stepfather.