VENTURA : Sanity Trial Begins Today for Kolodziej
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Kevin J. Kolodziej, convicted of murdering an elderly Ventura woman, must go on trial again today to determine whether he was sane when he did it.
Kolodziej, 25, who has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia, was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing Velasta Johnson, 90, in her Agnus Street home on Jan. 17.
If Judge James M. McNally finds that Kolodziej was not guilty by reason of insanity, the former drifter will be hospitalized indefinitely in a psychiatric institution, until he is determined to be sane.
McNally will hear the case without a jury, as he did in the criminal trial.
If Kolodziej is found sane, he faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life, meaning that he would spend at least 10 years in prison.
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