By Juan A. Lozano
Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) -- Prosecutors said they doubt defense claims that jailed Texas financier R. Allen Stanford is incompetent to stand trial and asked a federal judge on Monday to seek a second opinion.
Stanford is accused of bilking investors out of $7 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme. Earlier this month, his attorneys filed court documents claiming the once high-flying billionaire was found incompetent by a psychiatrist working for the defense.
The attorneys said their client's "drastically deteriorating" mental, emotional and physical health is preventing Stanford from helping them prepare for his trial, which is set to begin Jan. 24.
But in a court motion filed Monday, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge David Hittner to order that Stanford undergo a second competency exam.
"A second examination is especially warranted in this case because Stanford's conduct to date indicates a thorough understanding of the legal proceedings and thus casts significant doubt on the opinion of the defense-selected doctor," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Costa wrote in the motion.
Hittner did not immediately rule on the request from prosecutors. Also pending before the judge is a request Stanford's attorneys made earlier this month asking for a competency hearing.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have declined to comment on the case since Hittner issued a gag order in September. However, Ali Fazel, one of Stanford's attorneys, noted that it is standard procedure for a second party to want their own expert assessment after one side has presented theirs.
Stanford and three ex-executives of his now-defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group are accused of orchestrating a colossal pyramid scheme by advising clients from 113 countries to invest more than $7 billion in certificates of deposit at the Stanford International Bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua, promising huge returns. Stanford's businesses were headquartered in Houston.
Stanford's attorneys say he ran a legitimate business and didn't misuse bank funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle, as prosecutors allege.
Stanford and the executives have pleaded not guilty to various charges, including money laundering and wire and mail fraud.
They are also fighting a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit filed in Dallas that makes similar allegations.
Stanford has been jailed since his indictment in June 2009.
While jailed, Stanford has had a series of health problems, including a non-life-threatening aneurysm in his leg and a concussion and broken nose after getting into a jail fight in September 2009.
In court documents filed earlier this month, Fazel said the variety of medications Stanford is now taking have left the financier "in an unfocused and numbed state-of-mind" and resulted in tremors of his limbs, slowed speech and drowsiness. Although a description of the medications Stanford is taking was filed under seal, previous court documents have said he's taken antidepressants and psychotropic drugs.
"Mr. Stanford's impaired mental condition . along with the physical impairments now well-documented and known to the Court have created a condition where the accused can no longer assist counsel or invoke basic constitutional rights," Fazel wrote.
But in Monday's motion, Costa wrote Stanford has submitted documents in the case "that demonstrate an understanding of the legal process far beyond that of the typical defendant."
Stanford has had other legal woes as well. In October, he lost a lawsuit to have his insurance company pay for his legal fees.
Once considered one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. with an estimated net worth of more than $2 billion, Stanford was declared an indigent defendant and had to have Fazel and another lawyer, Robert Scardino, appointed by the court. They are the fifth set of lawyers for Stanford, who had hired and fired other attorneys.
Published: Wed, Dec 22, 2010
