COQUILLE - An 18-year-old murder suspect will spend the next few weeks at the Oregon State Hospital for a mental health evaluation to determine his ability to aid and assist in his own defense.

Until then no other hearings will be set for Henry L. Cozad of Coos Bay, said Judge Martin Stone at the teen's arraignment on Monday afternoon.



The teen is accused of murdering 59-year-old Linda S. Foley on Thursday at the home they shared with his father in Bunker Hill. The Coos County District Attorney's Office has said the suspect has severe mental health disabilities considered to be severe autism.

Via a live video conference broadcast into Stone's courtroom, Cozad sat with public defenders Carole Hamilton and John Meynink for the arraignment. Dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, the teen was unshackled through the hearing and at one point offered his attorneys sips of a Dr. Pepper he held in his hand. Family members and friends of Cozad's family sat in the courtroom.

Hamilton's office filed a motion to commit Cozad to the state hospital in Salem for the evaluation and received immediate approval from District Attorney R. Paul Frasier, who is also interested in learning more about the defendant's mental state before proceeding with the case. However, the DA balked when Hamilton mentioned Cozad's father, Fred, requested that morning to release the teen into the community and have him evaluated locally. Frasier said he did not feel that would be a wise decision.

"I'm opposed to him being out in the community at this point," Frasier said.

Cozad, he said later, is 6 feet ,1 inch tall and weighs about 220 pounds.

He referred to a case last year, in which an instructional aide filed assault charges against the teen after being strangled while working with Cozad via the South Coast Education Service District's life skills program. The attack left the man with permanent spinal cord damage, a Coos County Juvenile Department victim impact statement said.

Stone set $1.5 million bail for Cozad and signed the defense's order to commit him to the state hospital.

Frasier said Cozad will be sent within the next seven days to Salem, and the hospital has 30 days from his arrival to complete the evaluation.

The evaluation is incredibly important to the prosecution, the DA said, because if the defendant isn't competent enough to assist in his own defense, the case can be tossed out.

"If I had to guess, I'm afraid it's going to say he never will be able to," Frasier said.

If Cozad is found to be competent, without mental disease or defect and is convicted, he could face life in prison, with a 25-year-minimum sentence for the Measure 11 crime, Frasier said. If he's found guilty but insane, he could be put into the state hospital for the remainder of his life, subject to the will of a psychiatric sentencing review board. If Cozad is unable to assist in his own defense, the DA said he likely will pursue a civil commitment.

The defendant is being held in a cell in the jail booking area. Frasier said jailers are keeping him calm and busy watching Disney children's movies and drinking Dr. Pepper, which the DA purchased himself because it is reportedly the teen's favorite drink. Cozad hasn't been out of control while in custody, Frasier added.

"It's just easier for the jail," Frasier said.

That's also why Cozad didn't appear in court for the arraignment, the DA said. The teen might have found a belly chain and shackles upsetting. He noted that at some point, Cozad will have to appear in a courtroom.