TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — A Travis County judge has found Shane James Jr., accused of killing six people in a December shooting spree across Austin and San Antonio, incompetent to stand trial, according to court records filed last Wednesday.
“To be incompetent to stand trial you literally have to not be able to articulate anything about your case and be in such a bad place,” said criminal defense attorney, Amber Vasquez. She is unaffiliated with the case but has been closely following the developments.
James is charged with killing his parents in San Antonio before driving to Austin, where he allegedly killed four more people and wounded three others, including two police officers. The former Army officer has a documented history of mental health issues.
The ruling comes less than a month after James, 35, appeared in court requesting to represent himself and objecting to a mental competency evaluation. During that hearing, James told Judge Clifford Brown the evaluation was “unnecessary” and “baseless.”
His defense attorney, Russell Hunt Jr., had previously noted it wasn’t unusual for clients to resist psychological evaluations, describing James as trying to “get some control of the situation.”
“He’s charged with terrible crimes, he does have a history of psychiatric disturbances,” said Hunt Jr.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE |Why Shane James Jr. wants to represent himself in deadly shooting spree trial
Court documents show a writ of commitment was issued following the competency evaluation report.
“A person can’tgo to trial unless they can appreciate the charges they’refacing,” said Vasquez, “If they are not able to mentally do that, they have to be in treatment.”
James is expected to receive treatment at a state mental health facility until he’s competent enough to stand trial– Vasquez said that’s a very low threshold to meet.
But, will James’ defense claim insanity at the time James allegedly committed the crimes? Vasquez said that has yet to be seen.
“If somebody meets, in Texas, the standard of not guilty by reason of insanity, they do not belong in the system,” said Vasquez.
Experts said depending on the severity of James’ mental illness, he could be in a treatment facility for months or even years before he’s deemed competent to stand trial.
James still has a scheduled court date at the end of January.
CBS Austin has reached out to the District Attorney’s Office for more information about what this means for his case moving forward. We are waiting to hear back.
