WTNH-POOL
Is Dr. Lishan Wang mentally competent to determine his defense and to conduct his murder trial?
This question was answered today by a group of experts at his competency hearing in New Haven’s state Superior Court, the second in the last five years. The court-ordered psychiatric evaluation found he was not.
Dr. Alexander Westphal, the state’s first witness, testified that it was the team’s opinion that “Dr. Wang did not demonstrate the capacity to rationally understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense.” The evaluation found there was a “substantial probability” that Dr. Wang “can be restored to competence through an inpatient hospitalization at the Connecticut Valley Hospital,” a path Dr. Wang has gone down before. Dr. Wang acted as his own attorney in court today, questioning the witnesses.
Judge Orders New Competency Hearing
The trial judge, Thomas V. O’Keefe, Jr., ordered a new competency examination after Thomas J. Ullmann, the head of New Haven’s public defender’s office, asked Judge O’Keefe to revoke Wang’s status to represent himself at trial — and to substitute Ullmann as his attorney. Click here to read the story. Dr. Wang was recently examined by psychiatrists who then delivered the mental competency report to the court, to the attorneys and most recently to Dr. Wang.
It will be up to Judge O’Keefe to decide if Dr. Wang is competent to stand trial.
Dr. Wang, visibly unhappy with Ullmann, refused to consult him in his role as stand-by attorney in court today. He handled the proceedings himself, including cross-examining the witnesses.
Dr. Wang is accused of gunning down Dr. Vanjinder Toor outside his Branford condo nearly five years ago this month. At the time, Dr. Toor was a post-doctoral fellow at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Wang, who is now 49 years old, is charged with shooting Dr. Toor, then 34-years-old. Dr. Wang also shot at Dr. Toor’s then — pregnant wife, but missed. Dr. Toor was Dr. Wang’s boss when they worked at the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in New York. A workplace dispute eventually led to Dr. Wang’s firing.
Unlike the mental competency hearing held in 2010, where the only issue was whether Dr. Wang understood the charges against him and could aid his attorneys in his defense, this competency hearing may eventually seek more tests to determine Dr. Wang’s ability to mount his own trial. If the issue of mental competency to conduct one’s own trial and to choose one’s own defense was studied back in 2010 it was not raised in the court proceedings even though the U.S. Supreme Court and Connecticut’s Supreme Court have ruled on the issue.
In August 2010, four months after Dr. Toor was killed, Dr. Wang told a stunned courtroom that he wanted to represent himself at trial. The pre-trial judge at the time, Roland D. Fasano, presided over a mental competency hearing and later found Dr. Wang competent to stand trial. Not long after, Judge Fasano gave Dr.Wang the right to defend himself. At the time Judge Fasano rejected defense psychiatric testimony that now seems prescient.
Defense Psychiatrist Was Prescient
For example, Dr. Peter T. Morgan, of the Yale School of Medicine who was called to testify by the public defender’s office, said Dr. Wang believes that Dr. Toor is not dead. This insight became a reality in a number of motions Dr. Wang later filed in court. Dr. Morgan also testified that Dr. Wang’s “serious psychotic disorder prevents him from believing the Toor murder actually happened and that he was involved in it.” Click here to read the story.
Dr. Morgan said in February 2011 that it was his expert opinion that Dr. Wang is delusional and should be on anti-psychotic drugs, which his then-current doctors had not prescribed for him. He also said that Dr. Wang is doing everything in his power to be declared competent.
Dr. Morgan also said that the techniques used at the Whitney Forensic unit, where Dr. Wang was examined, are designed to give a general education about how courts work and who plays what role. But the staff is reluctant to get into the details of cases.
“They avoid the details of cases.” The probing questions demanded of the patient were not asked, Dr. Morgan told the judge by way of explaining the divergent views heard in court.
Initially Judge Fasano found Dr. Wang incompetent to stand trial in 2010. Three months later, Dr. Mark Cotterell, who oversees all competency cases at Connecticut Valley Hospital’s forensic division in Middletown, testified Dr. Wang was competent to stand trial.
Public Defender Scott Jones chastised Dr. Cotterell for the superficiality of his examination. Never once, said Dr. Cotterell did he ask Dr. Wang about his decision to represent himself, even though Dr. Wang’s desire to do so accelerated the mental competency examination. No medication was prescribed for Dr. Wang, who was diagnosed as having an unspecified depressive disorder, Dr. Cotterell said. Nor was Dr. Wang asked to take any psychological tests.
Dr.Wang Becomes Attorney Wang in 2011.
Once Judge Fasano ruled Dr. Wang was competent and could represent himself, Dr. Wang assumed the mantle of a defense attorney/murder suspect, essentially firing his public defender attorneys. One of them, however, did stay on as a stand-by attorney. As the case evolved it became evident that the state’s criminal justice system was neither prepared for nor able to handle the evolving legal issues in the case.
Ever since Dr. Wang was declared competent to stand trial and was given the right to defend himself, the murder case has presented a series of unique legal issues that have yet to be resolved. One major issue is Dr. Wang’s defense strategy, which he has yet to disclose.
When it became apparent a conflict had developed between the public defender’s office and the judiciary over who pays for Dr. Wang’s expert witnesses, Judge Fasano appeared to be rethinking his initial decision giving Dr. Wang the right to act as his own attorney.
In early August 2012, Judge Fasano made his plea: “I am going to ask you to let the public defender represent you. They have the resources; they can take care of many expenses. Not only that but they have the expertise. You can ultimately decide to represent yourself at trial. I implore you to do this. You will have the experts. I am going to implore you to do this prior to trial.” Click here to read the story.
Dr. Wang would not give up his right to defend himself. The issue of who pays Dr. Wang’s expert witnesses went to the state’s highest court for resolution before trial. The court held the public defender’s office would do so. Link. But getting actual witnesses is still a work in progress.
Since his last competency examination in 2011, Dr. Wang has said in a number of court filings that he does not believe Dr. Toor is the victim; he believes he is. He has also indicated he does not think Dr. Toor is dead, raising the issue of whether or not he understands the charges against him. He has questioned whether the autopsy performed on Dr. Toor was actually performed on the correct person.
At one point, Ullmann noted in his motion Dr. Wang submitted a motion entitled “Definition of Victim.” In this motion, he asserts that he is the victim because on May 22, 2008, he was wrongfully terminated because of “false accusations of Dr. Toor.…”
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Eugene R. Calistrio, Jr., has the burden to prove that Dr. Wang is competent to stand trial. He has not commented publicly on this latest round of hearings.
Dr. Wang has made it clear he does not want Ullmann to represent him, even though Ullmann is considered one of the best criminal defense attorneys in Connecticut.
Dr. Wang has told the judge: “I don’t want Attorney Ullman involved in my case, your honor,” he said. “I am concerned. Attorney Ullmann, he does not consider me innocent.”
Before that hearing ended, the judge on his own ordered a new mental competency examination for Dr. Wang.
“This will assist in making the decision,” the judge said back in February, adding it is up to him to monitor a defendant’s competency.
“You can be competent to stand trial but not competent to represent yourself,” Ullmann said in court during that hearing. The judge observed that he had overseen trials for more than 40 years.
“On that issue I might have better insights,” the judge noted. The judge also said he would also examine Dr. Wang’s ability “to organize a defense” in ruling on the Ullmann motion.
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