Publised Oct 16, 2008
A woman accused of stabbing an Española man to death in 2007 has been declared competent to stand trial, according to the District Attorney’s office.
April Lucero, 27, of Albuquerque, has been held in a Las Vegas mental hospital pending doctors’ determination whether she was competent to stand trial on charges of murder and tampering with evidence for the Feb. 19, 2007, murder of Michael Medina.
Lucero was committed to the state Behavioral Health Institute at Las Vegas for a nine-month period beginning Dec. 13, 2007, after a court-ordered psychologist determined that she was not competent to stand trial at that time but was amenable to treatment. At the end of the nine-month period, state doctors determined she was able to stand trial, court documents state.
Defense attorney P. Jeffrey Jones objected to this determination and cited the opinion of a Santa Fe psychologist who disputes the Las Vegas doctors’ findings, Chief Deputy District Attorney A.J. Salazar said. Jones did not return a call for comment.
At an Oct. 9 hearing, state District Court Judge Timothy Garcia declared Lucero competent to stand trial, Salazar said.
Jones has since withdrawn as a lawyer for Lucero, who will henceforth be represented by a public defender, Salazar said. Lucero’s case is scheduled for trial beginning Jan. 20, 2009.
The murder allegedly occurred after Medina and Lucero had been drinking at the Española home of Lucero’s boyfriend’s mother.
Medina had gone to the home to visit his friend, the mother’s caretaker, but was asked to leave after drinking with Lucero. When he returned to the home, Lucero fatally stabbed him with a steak knife, according to Española Police.