By Taylor Smith and Alyssa Eng
WOODLAND, CA – A woman charged with public disorderly conduct came to Yolo County Superior Court last Friday morning for her mental competency hearing, and in a courtroom outburst made it clear to Judge Stephen Mock and her defense counsel she did not believe there was a need to be evaluated by a doctor.
The woman was taken back into custody and a transcription of her outburst is being sent to a psychologist for evaluation to continue her case.
In bringing the accused’s two cases to the stand, Judge Mock told the public defender the doctor appointed to this case said the accused refused to speak with him and that they were waiting for her records to see if he could make a statement about her competency based on just her medical history.
The accused quickly interjected to express her dissatisfaction with the public defender.
She was heard from the Zoom microphone in the courtroom, “First of all, it’s innocent until proven guilty. Second of all, I’m not even supposed to be in jail.”
Then, she turned to the judge to inform him that she had a statement prepared, to which he responded, “I just heard what you said, ma’am.”
The public defender was trying to give her advice on how to best proceed with the hearing when she demanded he remove himself from the conversation as she did not request his services.
After telling him to “go sit down,” she informed the court that “Laura and I represent ourselves and each other. I did not request you.”
As she became more and more flustered she began to yell at the public defender and the judge, asking “at what point am I allowed to do what I want?” and telling the public defender to “stop acting like you’re involved in this.”
By this point, Judge Mock tried to explain to the accused they were trying to help her and wanted her to speak with the doctor. To their apparent surprise, the accused was rather offended by the idea of a doctor.
She explained, “I don’t need a doctor. Nobody can tell me what is real in my life. Nobody tells Laura and I what is going on or what is real. I don’t need a doctor.”
The court grew concerned and confused as she continued to mention this other person, as there was seemingly no “Laura” involved in her cases.
Despite Judge Mock’s attempts to ease her frustrations, the accused continued her rant. “The doctor has never seen me. The doctor is going to spend five minutes with me and determine whether I’m capable or not. That is unacceptable,” she said.
The judge informed her that what was really unacceptable was her disrespect toward him and his efforts to help her. He tried to move forward, telling her, “Well, that’s what is going to happen.”
“No, that’s not what’s going to happen. I’ll tell you what’s going to happen,” she insisted. She proceeded to refer to Judge Mock as “just a mediator” before threatening to fire him.
Judge Mock’s frustrated response was cut off by Deputy District Attorney Chris Bulkeley, who requested transcripts of the accused’s statements be sent to the doctor appointed to her case for review.
DDA Bulkeley clarified he believed “Laura” referenced by the accused multiple times in her statement was “an imaginary friend, or some other I don’t know what.”
He also explained he believed her outburst would be helpful to the doctor in conjunction with the accused’s medical records, noting, “If I was a doctor, I’d want to hear what she had to say.”
The woman was finally removed from the courtroom and taken back into custody and her cases will be brought back for review in November after the psychologist makes his evaluation.
