Mental Competency Hearing Set for Utah Teen Murder Case

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canfield mental competency hearing
Photo: Washington County Sheriff’s Office/St. George News

According to a report in The Spectrum of St. George, Fifth District Court Judge John Walton has set a mental competency hearing for January 30, 2015, in the case of Joshua David Canfield, the teenager in Toquerville, Utah, accused of murdering his 58-year-old-neighbor. On Thursday, Dec. 18, Walton said that two separate forensic psychiatrists had filed conflicting reports on Canfield’s mental competency.

Details of the Case

In March of this year, Toquerville deputies connected the dots between a home burglary of firearms and collectable coins, an attempted illegal purchase using the coins for gas for a stolen car belonging to 58-year-old Geraldine Bommarito, and the murder of Bommarito. On March 19, Canfield was arrested for all of these crimes. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s report, when Canfield was taken into custody, he was “belligerent and combative.” He was put under suicide watch after trying to harm himself twice.

Canfield is currently facing nine felony charges and three misdemeanors for murder, armed robbery, arson, drug possession, and assault on a police officer. Canfield was 17 years old when he was arrested, however, given the nature of the crimes, he is being tried as an adult.

A Question of Canfield’s Mental Competency

Canfield’s attorney, Edward Flint, said since Canfield’s arrest, he has spent time in isolation at the jail. In August, after observations and communications with Canfield, Flint’s partner Aric Cramer wrote to the court questioning Canfield’s mental competency to stand trial.

However, it was a surprise to all parties concerned—including the prosecution—that Canfield had been evaluated twice. The first doctor reported that Canfield was competent, however, the second doctor reported that he lacked the mental competency to stand trial.

Neither Flint nor Deputy County Attorney Zachary Weiland knew about the second doctor until the court appearance on Dec. 18. Flint also expressed dissatisfaction that the process was taking so long, citing other mental competency cases that had come up since Canfield’s and which had already been resolved.

Even given these complaints and the fact that neither attorney expected the court to bring in a third doctor as a “tie-breaker,” the defense has also hired a separate adolescent neuropsychologist for an evaluation before the hearing at the end of January.