The man accused of killing one woman and injuring three others in a string of stabbings on the Louisiana Tech University campus has been turned over to a forensic hospital in Jackson, where psychologists say he is mentally fit to stand trial. He will be kept at the hospital until his condition is determined.
This is the result of a state appellate court decision overturning an earlier ruling by Special Judge Chet Traylor. Traylor said Tuesday that the decision resulted in Third Judicial District Attorney John Belton choosing not to appeal, over other prosecutors on his staff.
“Some of the assistant prosecutors were in favor of appealing the (Second Circuit Court of Appeals) ruling, but they were denied by the prosecutors themselves,” a disgruntled Traylor said from the bench during a Tuesday afternoon hearing. .
Former College of Technology student Jacoby Johnson, 24, is charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder for allegedly killing local artist Annie Richardson with a knife and wounding three others outside the College of Technology's Lambright Sports and Wellness Center on Nov. 11, 2023.
Traylor ruled in January that Johnson was mentally competent to proceed to trial, but earlier this month the 2nd Circuit reversed that decision and ordered Traylor to return to Jackson for psychological testing and treatment. An East Louisiana mental health system was forced to admit Mr. Johnson.
Asked for comment, Mr. Belton said Mr. Traylor's assertion that he and his staff were divided over whether to appeal the Second Circuit's decision was inaccurate. Belton did not attend Tuesday's hearing.
Traylor said he found the Second Circuit's decision “very confusing,” and said the appellate judges misrepresented why they found Johnson fit to stand trial.
“I know I'm not that sharp of a knife, but I'm sure I'm not stupid,” Traylor said.
Psychiatrist Charles Vosburg and psychologist Dennis Clay Kelly, both of Johnson's court-appointed Sanity Commission, said Johnson was experiencing “audio hallucinations,” including voices telling him to harm himself or others. He reported that he said he was experiencing this.
In their report to Traylor, they wrote that interviews with Johnson made it impossible to determine whether these hallucinations were ongoing symptoms, temporary drug effects, or simply fake. They recommended that he be committed to ELMHS for further testing until it is determined whether he is competent to stand trial. Both of them belong to the forensic hospital there.
At a hearing in January, Traylor argued that Vosburg and Kelly's report was somehow inconclusive about Johnson's competency, but Lincoln Parish Detention Center nurse Jennifer Plunkett testified that when he examined Johnson in his cell, he found no hallucinations or other signs of behavioral problems. Confinement.
Traylor said Tuesday he disputed the Second Circuit's argument that Traylor gave more weight to Plunkett's testimony than to the doctor's.
“(Kelly and Vosburg) found no deficiencies in the defendant's ability to assist counsel,” Traylor said, citing excerpts from the sanity report.
Johnson, who stands 5 feet 5 inches tall, meekly shuffled into the courtroom before Tuesday's proceedings began. His prison coveralls were still accented by his taped-up glasses, which he reportedly broke in a fit of rage in his cell the same month after the attack, the day he was supposed to graduate from Tech University.
Traylor appeared disappointed that Belton's office chose not to appeal the Second Circuit's ruling, but he did not elaborate on the matter.
Assistant District Attorney Lewis Jones was the only representative from Belton's office present at Tuesday's hearing. He declined to comment.
At Jones' request, Traylor set a sanity review for Johnson for July 16 to “confirm our position” and said he doubted anything had changed by then. .
ELMHS' Forensic Medicine Department is typically where criminal defendants from around the state are sent if they are deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. Johnson cannot be released publicly unless he is sent back to the Ruston courtroom for trial.
It's not clear when that will happen.
Traylor once again expressed his dissatisfaction after the court overruled him.
“I'm still 100% sure I was right,” he said.
