Competency in question: Former New Orleans Catholic priest shows signs of dementia
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) –– 92-year-old former Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker was in Orleans Parish Criminal Court again on Thursday morning for a mental competency hearing.
Hecker is facing aggravated rape and kidnapping charges for crimes that allegedly happened in the 70s.
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Defense attorneys and prosecutors have met in Judge Benedict Willard’s courtroom several times to debate Hecker’s competency. An attorney representing one of the alleged victims said, “This is what happens, people, when the hierarchy of the Catholic Church knows that children are being raped and covers it up.”
On Thursday, Dr. DeLand, a psychiatrist on the Sanity Commission, said that based on a more than 7,000-page report on Hecker’s health, she believes he should be tested for dementia, a process she initially said could take up to 60 days.
The prosecution objected to further testing, arguing that Hecker had shown several times that he could meet the Bennett criteria, which determines if a defendant understands court proceedings and can assist their council. Prosecutors believe this is a tactic by the defense to delay the case going to trial.
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“We just want to make it clear that his short-term memory issues, his senior moments, whatever you want to call them, they aren’t a bar. They aren’t a shield to hold up against prosecution, against being responsible for the horrible actions he’s committed on so many young men,” said prosecutor Andre Collins Gaudin Jr.
Willard set a status hearing for Aug. 2 and another mental competency hearing for Aug. 8.
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