MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — After years of hearings and examinations, a Montgomery County judge is set to decide Wednesday if Catherine Hoggle will go to trial. She was charged with murdering her two young children in 2014; the bodies of then-3-year-old Sarah and 2-year-old Jacob have never been found.
According to state law, the murder charges will be dropped on December 1, if Hoggle isn’t found competent to stand trial before that.
THE QUESTION:
What does it mean to be “competent to stand trial?”
THE SOURCES:
- 18 U.S. Code § 4241
- MD. Criminal Procedure Code Ann. § 3-104
- Amanda Pustilnik, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
WHAT WE FOUND:
According to Maryland code title 3, the question of competency comes up when a defendant in a criminal case “appears to the court to be incompetent to stand trial or the defendant alleges incompetence to stand trial.”
U.S. law defines a competent defendant as able to understand what’s going on in court, and able to assist in their own defense.
“This is a very, very low standard: basically if a person can understand that they are in a courtroom, and what the function of a judge is, and communicate basic information to their attorney, then they are competent to stand trial,” explained University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professor Amanda Pustilnik, who is not involved in Catherine Hoggle’s trial but specializes in the topic of competency.
In the Hoggle case, there’s been disagreement from both sides over whether this can be influenced by legal arguments, like the presence of any other evidence or the recent testimony of Hoggle’s ex-husband Troy Turner, or must hinge on medical opinions, like the reports from medical professionals at the state psychiatric hospital where Hoggle’s been declared incompetent.
We’ve been In the courtroom as Hoggle’s attorney acknowledged she understands what is going on in the case, but denies she can assist in her own defense, pointing to medical findings and testimony from a psychiatrist asserting Hoggle suffers from psychosis, delusions, and disordered thought. As we reported shortly after her children’s disappearance, Hoggle has a history of paranoid schizophrenia.
But those who want to see her stand trial say Hoggle’s manipulating the system and those conversations with her attorney and her ex-husband are proof she's capable of participating in her defense in a trial.
Competency is different from sanity: Professor Putsilnik explains, insanity would be a defense raised during a trial— the defendant would have to be found mentally able to stand trial, but also so mentally ill they wouldn’t be responsible for their conduct at the time of the alleged crime.
If Hoggle is declared competent to stand trial, that date can be set–but if she is declared incompetent?
“It is very unusual that a person is not ever found competent to stand trial, especially after a lengthy hospitalization,” explained Putsilnik. “What will happen if the charges are dropped? Since the doctors at Perkins have repeatedly found her not only incompetent but incompetent and dangerous, she likely would remain civilly committed. Although for how long? Who knows.”