Pubdate: Fri, 18 May 2012
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Author: Ryan Olson

MARIJUANA ADVOCATE IS MENTALLY UNFIT IN NEW CASE

OROVILLE - A Paradise man known for his marijuana advocacy was deemed
mentally incompetent in a new criminal case.

Following a brief court trial Thursday, Butte County Superior Court
Judge Steven Howell ruled that Virgil Dean Hales is not currently
competent to assist in his own defense.

Hales is charged with a felony count of sales or transportation of
marijuana.

The mental health matter began when defense attorney Jodea Foster
expressed doubt about Hales' competency. Two doctors evaluated the
defendant and deemed him unfit to stand trial.

Speaking outside of court, deputy district attorney Elizabeth Norton
said the doctors' reports indicated that Hales has a fixed delusional
state about marijuana and that the drug could be used for practically
anything.

Norton said there are two components to determining competency. While
Hales appears to understand the proceedings in court, she said the
defendant is unable to rationally assist with the defense.

In the current case, Norton said Hales was smoking pot in a Paradise
park on Dec. 17 when he allegedly offered it to a 13-year-old boy. The
boy refused and some witnesses reported the encounter.

Police reportedly found Hales in possession of marijuana. When asked
if he offered the marijuana to the boy, Hales allegedly gave a
noncommittal response.

After Howell's ruling, the judge referred the matter to a state Mental
Health Department program for a placement report. The defense and
prosecution's responses in the case will also be sent to the program.

Hales has been declared unfit for trial in the past and placed in a
state mental institution. In a 2008 case, Hales was charged with a
felony count of mingling a harmful substance into food. Hales
allegedly brought a pot-laced cake to a meeting of a brain injury
support group he belonged to. Members ate the cake, not knowing it was
spiked, and several became seriously ill.

In that case, Hales was deemed incompetent and referred to Napa State
Hospital. Norton said he was released after his time in the hospital
expired, which led to the charge being dismissed in June 2010.
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