Moore Ruled Incompetent to Continue With Trial

Former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore was declared incompetent Thursday to take part at this time in her federal extortion trial, but lawyers for both sides expressed hope that the case could resume early next month.

Los Angeles federal Judge Consuelo B. Marshall issued the ruling after hearing testimony behind closed doors from two court-appointed psychiatrists who examined the 47-year-old defendant.

Moore was brought to the hearing by U.S. marshals from Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized since Monday for severe depression.

During a court hearing earlier in the week, Moore’s defense lawyer said she was under a suicide watch, while the prosecution suggested she was faking illness to disrupt the government’s case.

Emerging from the 90-minute hearing in the judge’s chambers Thursday, Assistant U.S. Atty. John M. Potter declined to comment when asked if he still believes Moore contrived being ill.

However, defense lawyer Thomas A. Mesereau Jr. attacked the prosecution for impugning his client’s honesty.

Citing an agreement reached in the judge’s chambers, neither side would discuss Moore’s mental state.

As a result of the judge’s finding, Moore was remanded to government custody for continued evaluation and treatment.

Neither side would reveal where she will be hospitalized, citing her privacy rights.

Under federal law, criminal defendants found to be mentally incompetent are automatically placed in government custody until they are ready to stand trial. Their status must be reviewed every four months.

But Marshall plans to review Moore’s status in less than two weeks, on Aug. 28, at another closed-door hearing. At that time, she is expected to receive follow-up reports from Drs. Ronald Markman and John M. Stalberg, the psychiatrists who testified Thursday.

“We are hoping that Mrs. Moore will be well by then and capable of participating in her trial, which is scheduled to resume on Sept. 3,” Mesereau said.

Potter was similarly hopeful.

Long before Moore’s hospitalization, the judge had planned a recess during the last two weeks of August so she could attend a judicial conference and take a brief vacation.

Moore, who contends that she was the victim of an FBI plot to “take down” African American politicians, is charged with extorting more than $64,000 from two businesses while serving on the Compton City Council in 1991 and 1992.

In 1994, she negotiated a deal with the government. In exchange for leniency, she agreed to plead guilty to two criminal counts and to help the FBI in its undercover probe of political corruption in Compton.

But after five months, she pulled out of the deal and changed her plea. She is now charged with 25 criminal counts.

Much of the evidence against her is documented on surreptitiously recorded audio- and videotapes that show her accepting cash payments from a businessman who was cooperating with the FBI.

A day after prosecutors began showing the first installment of tapes, Moore arrived in court complaining of headaches, dizziness and high blood pressure. While proceedings were halted for the next several days, she underwent a battery of neurological tests at King/Drew.

On Monday, a hospital neurologist reported to the judge that Moore was suffering from a previously diagnosed ailment, vertigo, which could be remedied through medication. He declared her fit to resume trial .

But later that night, Moore checked into King/Drew and did not appear in court the next day. For a time, the judge considered issuing a bench warrant for Moore’s arrest. But as the day wore on, word came from King/Drew that Moore had been placed under a 72-hour psychiatric lock-down.

Under the state Welfare and Institutions Code, a person can be held against his will for up to three days for evaluation and treatment if he is mentally disturbed and could harm himself or others.