Testimony Suspended for Competency Hearing
In an unusual move, a Ventura County judge has temporarily suspended testimony in a murder case so a jury can decide whether the defendant is competent to stand trial.
The ruling comes two days after 47-year-old Tommy Welch refused to come to court and then screamed at his lawyers in a holding cell as jurors waited in the courthouse hallway.
Welch faces one count of murder for allegedly strangling his 45-year-old girlfriend, Marsha Rockvam, in August 1997 in Ventura. He has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
Lawyers are expected to begin picking a separate jury for the competency hearing today, and the murder case will remain in recess until the issue is resolved.
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