Lukouxs Alan Brown, 27, is charged with first-degree murder. He was arrested on Feb. 16, 2021, after Wayne Smith, 50, of Fort Dodge, was found dead in the employee locker room at Prestage Foods of Iowa, 3183 Highway 17, outside of Eagle Grove. According to the criminal complaint, Brown cut Smith’s throat around 5:40 a.m.

Days after Brown’s arrest, his defense attorney filed a motion for a competency hearing, saying that Brown “exhibited an abnormal thought process, stated he had been ‘hearing voices,'” and “appeared to respond to outside stimuli that were not present in reality.”

District Court Judge Gregg Rosenbladt ruled on April 16, 2021, that Brown was not competent to stand trial and ordered him to be transported to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (Oakdale) for restoration of competency.

After months of intensive inpatient treatment and restoration attempts, the treating psychiatrist at the IMCC filed a report on Jan. 31 stating that “the defendant is not competent to stand trial and (after extended restoration treatment efforts) is not a candidate for continued restoration,” according to a motion filed by the defense last week.

The motion requests that the court terminate the restoration commitment order because of evidence that “there is no substantial probability that the defendant’s competency will be restored in a reasonable amount of time.”

The motion also notes that if the court does rule in favor of the motion, the state may then initiate civil commitment proceedings.

In accordance with Iowa law, a hearing must be held within 14 days of the report determining the defendant is not a candidate for restoration. That hearing is scheduled for Friday morning.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown has filed a motion for additional time to obtain an expert, requesting the opportunity to select a mental health expert to evaluate the defendant for competency, both as a second opinion on whether to terminate court proceedings and to “assist in possible placement of the defendant if commitment should continue.”

“Although the report from Oakdale indicates the defendant is not competent to stand trial and is not restorable, the report also indicates the defendant remains a danger to others and will require ’24/7′ supervision,” the motion states.

The defense filed a resistance to the state’s motion, arguing that the state has 14 days from the date of the report to prepare for the possibility of the proceedings being terminated, noting that applying for an involuntary hospitalization is “a fairly routine procedure,” and is frequently done on an “emergency” basis in a matter of hours.

The defense argued that considerations for a civil commitment and concerns of the defendant posing as a “danger” to others is irrelevant to the issue of if Lukouxs Brown is a candidate for continued restoration efforts.

“The state seeks to leverage the public concern of someone accused of a serious crime being ‘released’ as a reason to deny the defendant his due process rights,” the resistance states.