State v. Jones, COA24-241, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Nov. 19, 2024)

In this Rowan County case, defendant appealed her convictions for first-degree arson, larceny of a dog, and attempted first-degree murder, arguing error in not ordering a competency hearing. The Court of Appeals found no error.

Defendant came to trial for the offenses in August of 2023. After the conclusion of State’s evidence, defense counsel indicated that defendant would testify. The trial court examined defendant before her testimony and she willingly waived her Fifth Amendment privileges. Defendant then testified about hearing voices caused by “voice-to-skull” technology that she blamed on the victim. She recounted spending several hours at the victim’s home, trying to light the victim’s porch on fire, tampering with the victim’s pool, and leading his dog away to her car. On cross-examination, defendant admitted to using methamphetamine to help her function. Defendant was subsequently convicted.

Considering the competency hearing argument, the Court of Appeals explained that G.S. 15A-1001(a) establishes a statutory right to a competency hearing, but “nothing in the record indicates that the prosecutor, defense counsel, Defendant, or the court raised the question of Defendant’s capacity to proceed at any point during the proceedings,” meaning defendant waived her statutory right to a hearing. Slip Op. at 6. Despite the statutory waiver, the Due Process Clause requires a defendant to be competent to stand trial. Under applicable precedent, a court must order a competency hearing sua sponte when there is “a bona fide doubt” of the defendant’s competency to stand trial. Id. at 8. Here, the court did not see substantial evidence of defendant’s incompetence at the time of trial, noting that defendant only identified evidence of her behavior prior to trial to support her argument that she was incompetent. The court pointed out that defendant “conferred with her attorney about issues of law applicable to her case” and the record showed her “testimony was responsive and appropriate to the questions, even if her responses indicated that her troubling thoughts led to her actions in this case.” Id. at 9.