A Santa Maria man accused of murdering four people, including his father, in a shooting rampage earlier this year is not mentally competent to stand trial, a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge James Rigali suspended criminal proceedings in the case against Lee Leeds, 32, and ordered that the man described by his family as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia be forced to take psychotropic drugs.

Leeds’ primary attorney, Senior Deputy Public Defender Robert Ikola, said outside court that his client has been refusing to take his medicine.

Rigali set another hearing in the case for next Wednesday, at which time he is expected to make his order final.

Leeds faces murder charges stemming from a shooting spree March 18 at Black Road Auto in Santa Maria that killed four people: Golden “Dave” Duboise, Ricardo Leal, Terry Majan and Robert Leeds.

Robert Leeds, father of the accused, owned the auto salvage yard where the killings occurred.

Duboise and Majan were employees of Black Road Auto, and Leal was a customer. Duboise was in his first day working at the site when he was killed, Santa Maria police have said.

Advertisement

After the killings, Leeds disposed of the semi-automatic handgun he allegedly used in the shootings, and tried to escape from the rear of the business, according to police, but was captured as he climbed over a fence.

Criminal proceedings in the case were put on hold in April after Ikola said his client appeared to be so mentally ill that he was incapable of understanding the charges against him.

Two psychologists were appointed by the court in June to interview Leeds and determine his mental competency, but they reached conflicting opinions on his ability to stand trial.

Ikola said outside court that the court-appointed psychologists now agree that Leeds is mentally incompetent, an opinion also reached by two psychologists and a psychiatrist for the defense.

The attorney said that Leeds will be sent to Patton State Hospital until he is once again deemed competent to stand trial.

“It’s our hope that he will receive medication by force if necessary,” Ikola said.

“That’s been the primary problem,” he said of Leeds’ unwillingness to take his medicine.

Ikola told Rigali Wednesday that he does not want Leeds to remain incompetent.

Rigali said that he thinks Leeds will be restored to competency through treatment.

“That is my hope,” the judge added.

A trial was scheduled to start Monday to determine whether Leeds was competent to stand trial, but Ikola said after Wednesday’s hearing that that is no longer necessary.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Lynn Cutler, the primary prosecutor on the case, said Wednesday afternoon that he suspects that a jury would have found Leeds incompetent based on the testimony of mental health professionals.

“We expect that he will be medicated and resume his competency to the extent that he can assist counsel, and we will try him for multiple murders.”

Cutler said that putting the accused in the mental health “arena” as opposed to keeping him in the criminal courts can delay a case .

Cutler is working with Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Duffy, and Ikola is joined on the case by Deputy Public Defender Brian Carroll.

Lee Leeds’ sister, Becky Van Cleave, said Wednesday when informed of the Rigali’s ruling that she is pleased her brother was declared incompetent for trial.

“At least that part’s over with,” she said.

Van Cleave said that she understands that Leeds has not been taking his medicine, but is not sure if he has been offered his medication or not.

“It’s really torturous mental cruelty for him to not be on medicine,” she said. “It’s got to be pretty hard for him.”

December 4, 2008