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Pendleton to pursue insanity defense

FD man accused of killing Rev. Henderson

An attorney for Joshua Pendleton, the Fort Dodge man accused of killing the Rev. Al Henderson nearly a year ago, said that she intends to raise the defendant’s insanity at his first-degree murder trial.

In Thursday filings, Michelle Wolf put prosecutors on notice of her intent to use the defense strategy, as required by Iowa’s criminal procedure rules, requesting that Pendleton undergo another mental health evaluation at the University of Iowa to facilitate the defense.

Pendleton, 37, was charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the killing of Henderson on Oct. 2, 2019, outside of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

In January, his trial was suspended when the court found probable cause that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. His attorney, in graphic detail, described her difficulties in preparing for trial with the schizophrenic man, such as getting the defendant to understand the importance of being dressed for their meetings to prepare for trial. Her communications with jail staff indicated that he was smearing feces all over his padded cell and eating it.

In February, mental health evaluations at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (IMCC) in Coralville concluded that he was incompetent, prompting treatment.

In June, Pendleton’s competency to stand trial was restored with continuous treatment, the court ruled after reports of improvement from IMCC staff, and criminal proceedings resumed. But by that time, COVID-19 restrictions mandated by the Iowa Supreme Court put a moratorium on criminal jury trials for several months, further prolonging an already drawn out process typical for first-degree murder trials.

As the history of Pendleton’s case has uniquely shown, being found incompetent to stand trial is not the same thing as pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

An insanity defense is when an attorney attempts to prove “by a preponderance of the evidence” that the person accused of a crime has suffered from “such a diseased or deranged condition of the mind as to render the person incapable of knowing the nature and quality of the act the person is committing or incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong,” according to Iowa code and criminal procedural text.

Iowa code provides that people cannot be convicted of crimes if, at the time of the crime, the person suffered in such a way, diminishing their culpability for an act they may have demonstrably committed. Defendants pursuing this defense must submit to examination by state-appointed experts, if ordered by the court.

Those who are declared incompetent to stand trial, if indeed found incompetent by mental health experts, simply undergo state-ordered treatment until their mental health is restored enough to stand trial.

Most other instances of the rarely used defense in cases from recent years have failed in northern Iowa.

In 2012, Osage juvenile Noah Crooks, 16, asserted the insanity defense in the death of his mother, who was shot 22 times with a semi-automatic rifle as she sat on a couch studying. A Wright County jury deliberated several days on the first-degree murder charge, returning with a second-degree murder conviction.

Minnesota man Michael Richard Swanson, 21, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after he murdered two women in Humboldt and Algona convenience stores in November 2010. The defense was unsuccessful.

In August 2013, Mason City man Thomas Barlas Jr., 43, successfully argued the insanity defense for what was believed to be the first time in Cerro Gordo County, according to the Mason City Globe Gazette.

After a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing death of his father, Barlas was transferred to Cherokee Mental Health Institute, where he will remain until he is no longer deemed to be a danger to himself or others. A judge will decide if or when he can be released.

Iowa’s insanity statute follows a rule based on the 1843 case of Daniel M’Naughten, a deranged British woodcutter who attempted to assassinate the prime minister. The standard from his acquittal is still used in 26 states. Another 21 states use a standard developed by the American Law Institute.

The insanity or diminished responsibility defense shifts a burden of proof from prosecutors to the defense, who often need to show more than a medical diagnosis to prove their case.

A trial has not yet been scheduled for Pendleton. He will face trial in Scott County after a judge granted a July request for a change of venue.

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