This week, a jury began to hear testimony in the competency trial of the man charged with fatally stabbing two people and injuring a third in Davis this spring. They will need to decide whether 21-year-old Carlos Reales Dominguez is mentally fit to stand trial for those crimes.
The defense has called a number of witnesses who have charted the course of the man from his freshman year at UC Davis, to recent days in his cell in the Yolo County jail. Amid it all, Carlos Reales Dominguez sits stock-still next to his public defender, outfitted in a green suicide vest, with his face covered by tangled black hair.
Dominguez is charged with fatally stabbing 50-year-old David Breaux and 20-year-old Karim Abou Najm and critically injuring 64-year-old Kimberlee Guillory during a spate of stabbings that disquieted the college town and lasted from April 27 and to May 1.
The central question now is whether or not he would be able to understand his criminal trial proceedings and assist in his defense, otherwise known as mental competency. If the jury finds him competent, his trial will be scheduled. If not, he will be sent to a state hospital until he’s fit to stand trial.
Dominguez’s public defender, Daniel Hutchinson, told the jury during opening statements Tuesday that his client suffers from schizophrenia and is not able to assist in his own defense.
That statement was backed up on Thursday by Dr. Juliana Rohrer, the psychologist ordered by the court to conduct a competency exam on Dominguez in early June.
“I would say that Mr. Dominguez is [a] textbook example of schizophrenia,” she said.
Rohrer, who was deemed an expert witness by the court, outlined how she made her decision, through multiple psychological tests, including one to determine whether Dominguez is “malingering,” or faking his illness.
She particularly highlighted Dominguez’s ability to sit completely still for up to seven or eight hours as evidence of schizophrenia.
“I think that would be one of the hardest things for anybody to ever fake,” she said. “I’ve worked in a prison for years and I’ve seen a lot of individuals trying to fake things and generally they tend to pick things that are not going to make them uncomfortable.”
During their opening statements, the prosecution told jurors Dominguez is toying with the system and is capable of making decisions based on what's going on around him. They argued someone could have schizophrenia and still be competent to stand trial, a statement to which Rohrer agreed.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, people who knew Dominguez during his freshman year up until the murders took the stand, including his ex-girlfriend, Caley Gallardo. Gallardo testified that Dominguez had always been a reserved person, but significantly withdrew and deteriorated during their time together.
She said he became paranoid, and told her he was hearing the devil in his dreams. Gallardo and Dominguez’s former roommates also testified he was regularly using alcohol and marijuana.
On Wednesday, two mental health professionals from the Yolo County Jail testified the former UC Davis student repeatedly asked for his school counselor while incarcerated, and expressed desire to sign up for classes, despite being expelled from the school shortly before the murders happened.
The prosecution argued Dominguez might believe he could still enroll in classes and is choosing to behave in this way.
Mark Reichel is a criminal defense attorney practicing in Sacramento, and says this is part of a larger strategy to offer alternative explanations to why Dominguez could be acting irrationally.
Reichel says by requesting a jury trial, the prosecution has improved their chances that Dominguez will be found competent.
“They did their best move in this chess match, which was to say, you know, we want to get a jury in here, make the defense attorneys convince a jury, not just one judge,” he said.
Reichel says he’s curious to see “how the lawyers break down the psychological and medical mental health experts testimony and explain that to the jury,” adding “the closing arguments are going to be everything in this case.”
If Dominguez is found to be incompetent, he will be sent to a state hospital to be restored to competency, according to Reichel, who added the process normally takes between three to six months.
The trial will take a break for the week of July 31, and is scheduled to restart on Aug. 7. Judge Samuel T. MacAdam told the jury he expects they will be asked to make a decision toward the middle of that week.
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