VENTURA : Defendant to Get Psychiatric Exam

A Ventura County judge on Thursday ordered a psychiatric examination for a 25-year-old drifter to determine whether he is competent to stand trial in the Jan. 17 murder of a Ventura woman.

Superior Court Judge James M. McNally ordered the examination of Kevin Kolodziej, but postponed ruling on a defense request to seal any statements he makes to psychiatrists.

McNally said any ruling on whether prosecutors can use those statements during trial will be made after the examination, which is scheduled for next week.

Prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty for Kolodziej, who is charged with murder and burglary.

Investigators have said that 12 days after severely stabbing himself, Kolodziej walked away from the Ventura County Medical Center’s intensive care unit.

They said he entered the home of 90-year-old Velasta Johnson, picked up a nine-inch knife and stabbed her once in the chest.

“He says he’s very sorry it happened,” Deputy Public Defender Steve P. Lipson said of Kolodziej, who has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.

“He didn’t like his stay in the hospital. They gave him drugs which basically paralyzed him, and he just wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Lipson said that Kolodziej has periods of clear thinking, sometimes discussing his fondness for classical music and science fiction, but also periods of great confusion, when he is nearly impossible to talk to or understand.