Competency hearing set for woman charged with hate crime in IU student bus stabbing
It's been more than a year since Bloomington resident Billie R. Davis was charged with using a pocketknife to stab a Chinese-American Indiana University student seven times in the head on a city bus.
Davis's mental health issues have stalled the case. A motion filed by her lawyer indicates Davis has a lengthy history of psychiatric troubles and has undergone "multiple involuntary hospitalizations" for treatment.
A mental competency hearing at the end of this month may shed light on what will come next in the federal hate crime case.
The student injured in the Jan. 11, 2023 attack, a freshman from Carmel, was treated in the emergency room and not admitted to the hospital. Passengers on the bus rendered aid and followed the suspect when she fled the scene, helping police locate her.
Davis, now 57, was initially charged by the Monroe County prosecutor with attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery with a deadly weapon.
But those charges were dismissed last April after federal authorities charged Davis with a hate crime that could keep her in prison for life. Davis reportedly told police she stabbed the student because she was Asian.
From last year: Bloomington woman accused of stabbing IU student of Chinese descent charged with hate crime
Indiana is one of four states that doesn't have a hate crimes law. So if a criminal offense is suspected to be rooted in prejudice or hate, the FBI can investigate and pursue federal charges. A grand jury issued the indictment against Davis.
In September, federal public defender Leslie Wine confirmed she would be seeking an insanity defense in the case. She filed a motion seeking a psychiatric evaluation and a court hearing where U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt would hear evidence to determine if Davis understands the allegation against her and is mentally competent to stand trial.
At the time, Davis, who is in federal custody without bond, was incarcerated at the Knox County Jail in Vincennes, where court documents say she was on anti-psychotic medication. An initial psychiatric review in August indicated Davis was not mentally stable and “in need of psychiatric intervention and stabilization,” Dr. Bhushan Agharkar wrote.
In a September update to Wine that’s included in court documents, the Atlanta-based psychiatrist states that “she (Davis) has considerably deteriorated. Her medications do not appear to be working optimally.”
He said Davis's mental state "waxes and wanes" and that she is uncooperative. "Based on my observations of her psychiatric decline and lack of rational assistance to counsel, it is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that Ms. Davis is incompetent to stand trial."
Davis was transferred to a federal detention center in Houston, Texas, for a full evaluation, and released back to the Knox County Jail at the end of November. Judge Pratt scheduled a competency hearing for Jan. 31 at the federal courthouse in Indianapolis.
But on Jan. 12, Wine filed a motion withdrawing her request for the competency hearing. “After consultation with an expert and lengthy discussion with Ms. Davis, counsel is withdrawing her previously filed motion to determine mental competency. As such, counsel requests that the competency hearing presently scheduled for Jan. 31, 2024, be vacated.”
The prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office didn't object to the request. But Pratt did, and on Jan. 18 she denied the defense motion to cancel the competency hearing. It remains set for 2 p.m. Jan. 31.
"Based on the record in this case, the court on its own has reasonable cause to believe that a hearing, with defendant present, is necessary," Pratt's ruling states. She set a final pretrial attorney conference for Feb. 22, and a jury trial to begin March 11. Davis remains jailed in Vincennes.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Billie Davis, accused of stabbing Asian IU student, mental evaluation
