IRVINE : Accused Ex-Officer Called Alert, Lucid

Steven Rush McCoy, a former Beverly Hills police officer accused of raping an 11-year-old Irvine girl, Wednesday was described as lucid and in control by two County Jail guards testifying in a hearing to determine McCoy’s competency to stand trial.

Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Buchanan told the jury in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach on Wednesday that he had been assigned a supervisory detail in the area where McCoy had been held in protective custody. He said the inmate never had to be disciplined, carried on conversations and appeared to be alert.

Buchanan also said McCoy was able to execute simple transactions, which allowed him to order candy and cigarettes from the jail’s commissary.

The testimony was offered by the prosecution after a psychiatrist testified last week that McCoy’s manic-depressive state made him unable to communicate effectively with his lawyer and unfit to stand trial for the March 26 attack.

The psychiatrist, Dr. Stephen M. Petty, had said McCoy was suffering from delusions and believed that he was being pursued by enemies.

McCoy, 36, is charged with rape, sexual assault and burglary in connection with the attack. Police said a man posing as a deliveryman with a package persuaded the girl to open the door and then raped her at knifepoint inside her apartment in University Town Center.

Another sheriff’s deputy, Roger Lang, testified that he also was stationed in the unit housing McCoy and found him to be “very coherent and very respectful.”

“Did you ever hear him say to you that he was Jesus Christ?” asked Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora Lynn Lloyd, referring to a declaration reportedly made by McCoy to his defense attorney Jan Morton Heger.

“No, ma’am,” Lang said.

The jury also heard the testimony of Dr. Kaushal K. Sharma, a Newport Beach psychiatrist, who examined McCoy July 8 for the prosecution, the day after Petty’s examination, and found him to be competent.

A native of Los Angeles, McCoy joined the Beverly Hills Police Department in October, 1976, before being named a full-time officer in January, 1978. McCoy said he left the force because of a disabling motorcycle accident.

Following the attack, police found several items at McCoy’s apartment that they said link him to the crime. Among them were articles of clothing belonging to the victim and a stained bedsheet believed to be from the attack. Investigators also found a book entitled “How to Assert an Insanity Defense.”