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Robert Dear deemed not competent to stand trial

Posted at 8:53 AM, Oct 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-26 11:39:08-04
Robert Dear
File photo

COLORADO SPRINGS – The confessed gunman in the Planned Parenthood shooting was deemed not mentally competent to stand trial Friday morning.

Dear was not at the courtroom during Friday’s hearing, A judge scheduled his next court appearance for Jan. 25, 2019.

Per a court order, Dear will appear in court every 90 days until he is considered mentally competent to stand trial. The court earlier deemed Dear incompetent to stand trial in July when two psychologists testified he has a delusion disorder. They said keeps him from trusting almost anyone. Dear has received treatment at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo.

In January, an appellate court ruled that staff can administer antipsychotic medicine to Dear. The court ruled that “the forced administration of antipsychotic medications to Dear is not an unconstitutional deprivation of his liberty.” The court’s ruling upheld a district court’s decision which said the medications that Dear had refused were “medically appropriate” and involuntary medication was “necessary to further the government interests.”

He is charged with 179 counts, including murder and attempted murder.  Police said Dear told investigators he attacked the clinic because of his anti-abortion views.

Three people were killed and nine injured in the standoff that lasted for five hours before a SWAT vehicle was sent into the lobby, forcing the attacker to surrender.  UCCS Police officer Garrett Swasey, Ke-Arre Stewart, and Jennifer Markovsky were killed in the attack.