VENTURA : Psychiatric Dispute Again Delays Trial

Conflicting psychiatric reports about a 24-year-old murder suspect’s ability to understand the nature of charges against him have again delayed the defendant’s prosecution in Ventura County Superior Court.

Judge Lawrence Storch on Wednesday scheduled a Jan. 11 hearing to determine whether Jose Luis Gonzalez, a transient accused of killing Santa Paula ranch foreman Rosario De La Cruz in May, is mentally competent to stand trial.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison said two doctors have reached different conclusions about whether Gonzalez is able to understand the charges against him.

The suspect last month was returned from Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino after doctors there determined he was competent.

But another doctor after a subsequent evaluation determined that Gonzalez still does not understand the charges and cannot assist in his defense, said Deputy Public Defender Douglas W. Daily.

The defendant has a right to let a jury decide if he is competent to stand trial, but Daily said he might be willing to waive that privilege if prosecutors agree.

Ellison said he would have a decision on that offer by next month.

According to investigators, De La Cruz, a longtime acquaintance of Gonzalez’s, told his wife that Gonzalez had shot him moments before De La Cruz died in his Santa Paula home.

Gonzalez, who did not speak during Wednesday’s proceeding, remains in custody at Ventura County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.