After Yolo county prosecutors in California notified the court last week that they no longer intended to pursue the claim by Carlos Dominguez’s counsel that he was not mentally ready for trial, the judge excused jurors on Monday, which would have been the fifth day of testimony in Dominguez’s competence trial.
Prosecutors have concluded that a former Northern California university student accused of several stabbings is unfit to stand trial on charges linked to the assaults, which resulted in the deaths of two people, injuries to a third, and the terrorization of a normally quiet college town.
If Dominguez is found to be incompetent, he will be unable to participate in or comprehend the criminal case, help his counsel, or grasp his situation.
Judge Samuel McAdam of Yolo Superior Court ruled last week that despite Dominguez’s concerns, the defendant posed an imminent risk to himself and others and must be medicated. Dominguez is psychotic, according to the testimony of three doctors.
According to an email sent by Jonathan Raven, the county’s top deputy district attorney, prosecutors questioned the first doctor’s assessment and her methodology for determining Dominguez’s competence.
Raven said that once a bed opens up at a state facility, Dominguez would be sent there, and the criminal trial will proceed after his competence has been restored.
Previous statements by prosecutors indicated that Dominguez was “toying with the system” and warranted a criminal prosecution.
According to Raven, the defendants withdrew their challenge after learning new evidence and the court’s decision to begin involuntary medication procedures during the trial.
Before his expulsion on April 25, Dominguez was in his third year as a biological science major at the University of California, Davis. The stabbings near the university started soon after. He is being held responsible for the deaths of a homeless man (age 50) and a UC Davis student (age 20). An assault on a homeless lady in her tent didn’t kill her.
The assaults caused widespread panic. Many stores and schools shut down early, and parents begged their children to stay home from school, even if it was during the day.
Dominguez was taken into custody on May 4th, a week after the discovery of the first victim, close to the site of the second assault.
