Published: May 04, 2007 08:25 am         

LeGrande back in court

Thursday, May 3, 2007 — Guy Tobias LeGrande, the man convicted of murdering a local mother, is headed back to court in Stanly County after psychiatric evaluations to determine his competency to stand trial.

He’ll appear Friday in the Stanly County Courthouse, but what comes of it remains in question.

LeGrande faces the death penalty for the murder conviction if he’s deemed mentally fit – and if the state digs itself out of the veritable tar pit it’s fallen in regarding capital punishment.

The North Carolina Medical Board ruled in January that any “physician who engages in any verbal or physical activity ... that facilitates the execution may be subject to disciplinary action.”

Doctor’s roles in executions are at the heart of the debate which prompted a two year moratorium on, and possibly an indefinite halt in, death penalty administration.

A federal court ruled in April that executions must be monitored by a doctor, but the state medical board prohibits doctors from participating.

So, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley froze the state’s execution schedule, putting N.C. among 11 states to delay legal punishment killings.

That means no more N.C. executions until the state resolve’s the quandary.

The effect on LeGrande’s case is significant because whether or not he’s found competent may not actually come into play until the state’s execution woes are resolved.

State officials announced in October that LeGrande was scheduled for execution Dec. 1, 2006, for the 1993 Munford murder.

However, the morning of Monday Nov. 27, in Stanly County Superior Court, Judge Robert Bell granted the death row inmate a stay of execution.

The stay was granted to give psychiatrists at Dorthea Dix Hospital in Raleigh time to evaluate LeGrande’s mental state.

Bell asked doctors to report their progress and findings to him 45 days after LeGrande’s admission for the 60 day evaluation period.

Efforts to define and assess his mental competency level took longer than the original period set for evaluation.

In an amendment to his original motion to stay the execution, LeGrande’s attorney Jay Ferguson, no said definitive conclusion was reached about the death row inmate’s mental state.

Then a week before the first evaluation was due, Bell filed a court order to extend the time limit on the evaluation.

In Ferguson’s amendment information submitted by Dr. George P. Corvin in General and Forensic Psychiatry suggests LeGrande may be mentally ill – but it neglects to name a specific disorder.

“As a result, the examiner remains unable to arrive at a specific diagnostic conclusion...a number diagnostic possibilities” should be considered, according to the report.

“It remains the examiner’s conclusion that the defendant most likely suffers from one of the following Axis 1 psychiatric conditions: Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar type, Bipolar 1 Disorder, Manic with psychotic features, or Delusional Disorder.”

Earlier this week Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison denied a motion from the state Attorney General’s Office to dismiss a petition lodged by legal council for several death row inmates.

That ruling declared inmates to be “aggrieved” based on state statutes and the ruling further encumbers N.C.’s death row rut.

A total of 10 elected N.C. officials, including Gov. Mike Easley make up the Council of State which approved a new execution method in February.

Following a hearing this month, Morrison is set to determine whether or not to approve the new method.

So, courts are facing ethical questions and both state and federal judicial systems are locked on how or if to move forward executions.

The attorney General’s office acknowledged several weeks ago, through a letter, it will “prepare to move forward through the legal process in accordance with our responsibility under the law.”

Attorneys representing the North Carolina Department of Correction (DOC) and Thomas W. Mansfield, Director of the N.C. Medical Board with the board’s staff attorney met to discuss avoiding litigation.

A letter from N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office, considered a declatory ruling to be, “a critical first step to obtaining guidance from the Board on physician involvement in the execution process.”

But receiving no response was “disappointing,” it said.

Jay Almond can be contacted by email at snaponline21@yahoo.com.