Oakland — Following a fourth mental competency evaluation, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Armando Pastran Jr. ruled that Cedric Irving Jr. is mentally unfit to stand trial. The Department of State Hospitals will make a recommendation on May 8 to determine where the suspected murderer of former Laney College Athletic Director, John Beam, will be placed.
Three evaluators had already found Irving mentally incompetent to stand trial prior to Friday’s hearing.
According to Assistant District Attorney, Danielle London, a fourth evaluator appointed by the prosecution gave her verbal confirmation of Irving’s mental competency status. London did not share the opinion of the fourth evaluator in court and declined to comment on the court’s proceedings.
In a statement sent to The Citizen and several other media outlets, Deputy Public Defender Jeff Chorney wrote that the prosecution “dropped their opposition to having the court find Mr. Irving [mentally] incompetent.” Chorney added that the courts “should decide” where to send Irving for treatment during his next hearing.
Friday’s mental competency hearing was originally scheduled for May 15, but the fourth evaluation was completed earlier than expected and the court date was moved up to April 17.
Andrew Gibson, a Deputy Attorney General of California, was present at the hearing. Two members of the Oakland-based law firm UnCommon Law were present as well. The reason for their presence was unclear. Neither Gibson nor the UnCommon Law representatives could be reached for comment in time for publication.
After this report was published, a communications manager for UnCommon told The Citizen that their representatives were at the hearing for a different case.
The Citizen reached out to Tish Gallegos, Beam’s sister-in-law and the point of contact for the family, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Potential outcome per California statute
If Irving is placed in a state hospital, he will receive treatment that focuses on the “restoration of trial competency in the most expeditious manner,” according to the California Department of State Hospitals.
He will be prepared on aspects of his criminal proceedings such as “what [he is] charged with, the pleas available, the elements of a plea bargain, the roles of the officers of the court, the role of evidence in a trial, and [his] constitutional protections.”
Afterwards, he will undergo a knowledge test of the criminal proceedings. If he passes the test, he may participate in a mock trial.
In the event that he passes a competency evaluation, which may be conducted at any point of the treatment process, a forensic report will be sent to the court stating that he is competent to proceed to trial.
If he is unable to regain competency after two years of treatment, Irving may be placed into state conservatorship.
Irving’s next hearing will be on May 8 at 9 a.m. at the René C. Davidson courthouse at 1225 Fallon Street in Oakland, CA.
Managing Editor Ivan Saravia contributed reporting
This article was updated on April 17 at 7:33 to correct that assistant district attorney did not share the opinion of the fourth evaluator in open court and to include a statement by the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office.
This article was updated again at 7:42 to include a statement by UnCommon Law.
