COMPETENCY – Improper Considerations; Pro Se Filings 

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, February 8, 2010
By admin

Where a magistrate judge considered the pro se filings of a represented defendant and his interruptions of his attorney during a hearing to find that the defendant was incompetent, the District Court erred in adopting the magistrate’s recommendations because these considerations did not support a finding of incompetency, especially in light of the defendant’s attorney’s belief that the defendant was capable of assisting in his own defense, the relevant assistance he had already provided and an expert’s opinion following a recent evaluation. Judgment is reversed.