Weaver awaits word on court or hospital

Monday, July 26, 2004 |
SALEM (AP) - The mental evaluation of the man accused of killing two Oregon City girls in 2002 has been completed and is scheduled to be delivered to a judge this week.
Defense lawyers said Ward Weaver was too ill to aid in his own defense. Prosecutors said he was faking to avoid prosecution and a possible death penalty.
Clackamas County Circuit Judge Robert Herndon ruled that Weaver was mentally unfit to stand trial and suspended the trial, scheduled to start June 1. Herndon sent Weaver to Oregon State Hospital in Salem for a 90-day evaluation. During that time, nothing about his condition can be disclosed because of patient privacy laws. In addition, a gag order prevents attorneys and Weaver from talking about the case.
If the hospital recommends that Weaver be released, the judge will set a hearing for attorneys to argue whether Weaver is now fit to stand trial. Depending on how Herndon rules, Weaver's case could unfold in dramatically different ways.
If Weaver is found fit to proceed, he would return to Clackamas County Jail to await trial on charges of aggravated murder in the deaths of Ashley Pond, 12, and Miranda Gaddis, 13, whose bodies were found on property he was renting. If convicted, Weaver could be sentenced to death by lethal injection.
If Weaver is determined unfit for trial, he would remain a patient at the state hospital in Salem and be re-evaluated at least once every six months. If he remains unfit for up to three years, criminal charges could be dropped. He could then be civilly committed, extending his stay at the hospital.
For the past three months, Weaver has been a patient in a maximum-security forensic unit at the Oregon State Hospital, which sits on a sprawling 150-acre campus about a mile from the state Capitol.
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