Moore Needs Hospital Stay, Doctor Says

Suffering from what her defense lawyer described as “suicidal tendencies,” former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore was placed under a 72-hour psychiatric lock-down Tuesday, forcing a postponement of her federal extortion and tax fraud trial.

Moore entered Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center on Monday night and failed to appear in court Tuesday morning as directed by U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall.

Warning that she might be forced to order Moore’s arrest, the judge dispatched Dr. Ronald Markman, a well-known forensic psychiatrist, to the hospital to examine the defendant.

Three hours later, Markman and Dr. Frank E. Pinder III, a staff psychiatrist at King/Drew, reported that Moore was severely depressed and required hospitalization.

The judge gave no further details of Moore’s condition. A two-page diagnosis faxed to the court by Pinder was placed under seal, but Moore’s lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., said it spoke of Moore’s “suicidal tendencies” as well as her physical and mental exhaustion.

He also said his client was placed under a suicide watch.

Moore is charged with extorting more than $64,000 from two businesses that had projects requiring approval of the Compton City Council. She served on the council from 1989 through 1993.

In 1994, after learning that she was under investigation, Moore negotiated a deal with the U.S. attorney’s office. In exchange for leniency, she agreed to plead guilty and work undercover for the FBI in its investigation of official corruption in Compton. But after five months, Moore pulled out of the arrangement and changed her plea. She is now charged with 25 criminal counts.

Trial proceedings ground to a halt a week ago when Moore complained in court of severe headaches, dizziness and high blood pressure.

The interruption came just one day after prosecutors began playing excerpts from undercover videotapes and audiotapes showing Moore receiving alleged extortion payments from a Compton businessman who was cooperating with the FBI.

While the government’s case remained on hold, Moore underwent outpatient tests at King/Drew.

On Monday, a hospital neurologist told the judge that Moore was suffering from vertigo, a previously diagnosed condition that could be remedied through medication. He assured the court that Moore was ready to resume participating in her trial and Marshall ordered her to return to federal court at 8 a.m. Tuesday .

Moore is being held in the psychiatric unit at King/Drew under a provision of the state Welfare and Institutions Code.

It permits the hospital to hold for three days people who are suffering from mental disorders and constitute a threat to themselves or others. Such patients can be kept longer without their consent, but only after a court hearing.

Jurors have been deliberately kept in the dark about Moore’s absence in the interest of avoiding possible prejudice against her. On Tuesday, Judge Marshall told the jurors only that they will not return before Sept. 3.

Whether the trial will resume at that time was cast in some doubt.

“When I spoke to Dr. Markman, he talked in terms of the defendant’s competency to stand trial,” Marshall told lawyers for both sides Tuesday. “He said that as of today she is not competent to stand trial in this case.”

Marshall said Markman believed Moore understood what was happening in her case but did not appear capable of assisting in her own defense.

If she is judged incompetent, Moore could be remanded to the government’s custody for treatment at a federal psychiatric facility until she is found to be capable of standing trial.

The judge ordered attorneys to return to court Thursday to discuss where Moore will be housed when she leaves the hospital.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John M. Potter demanded that Moore be placed in the government’s custody, suggesting that she contrived her illness in order to disrupt the prosecution’s case against her.

He noted that Moore first complained she was suffering from high blood pressure, nausea and dizziness.

“After the defendant’s claim of physical illness was found to be bogus, she found a new claim,” Potter told the judge. “It’s our strong view,” he added, “that the defendant will continue to try to disrupt this case.”

His remarks drew an angry response from defense lawyer Mesereau, who accused Potter of harboring a personal grievance against Moore because she had accused him earlier of professional misconduct and tried to have him removed from the case. The judge denied her motion.

“She’s clearly ill,” Mesereau said of Moore’s condition, emphasizing the professional opinions of the two psychiatrists. He denounced as “outrageous” Potter’s charge that she was faking her illness.

He also appealed to the court not to remand Moore to government custody, calling the idea cruel.