NEWPORT BEACH : Ex-Officer Is Found Competent for Trial
A former Beverly Hills police officer accused of raping an 11-year-old Irvine girl was found competent to stand trial Friday.
A Municipal Court jury deliberated about two hours before delivering its decision in the case involving Steven Rush McCoy.
The decision was announced after conflicting testimony from two psychiatrists about McCoy’s fitness to face the charges in the March 26 attack.
During part of the competency hearing held last week, the psychiatrist testifying for the defense said McCoy, 36, was suffering from manic depression and episodes in which the defendant believed he was being pursued. McCoy’s attorney, Jan Heger, said his client has been unable to effectively communicate with him in preparing a defense.
Earlier this week, the prosecution countered with another psychiatrist who examined McCoy in July and found him to be competent to stand trial.
McCoy is charged with rape, sexual assault and burglary. He allegedly posed as a deliveryman and persuaded the girl to open the door to her apartment where she was raped at knifepoint.
McCoy joined the Beverly Hills Police Department in October, 1976, and has said he was dismissed from it in 1978 when he became disabled in a motorcycle accident.
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