New doctor’s letter may move Charlotte murder case ahead after 11-year delay

Devalos Perkins — the man who has spent more than a decade behind bars without a conviction — is now mentally stable enough to stand trial, doctors’ notes indicate. But a judge Friday said the murder case against him cannot proceed until he appears in court — and she or another judge sees for themselves.

Both the prosecutor and defense attorney agree the 37-year-old Charlotte man is fit enough to stand trial. It’s at least the third time the case has reached this junction since his arrest in 2012.

The Mecklenburg County prosecutor in court Friday asked to move ahead with a mental health ruling based on a state prison psychologists’ medical evaluation.

But, under state law, Judge Carla Archie needed to see and hear from Perkins herself, she said.

“The court has every interest in bringing Perkins’ case to some sort of resolution,” Archie said. “He has been in custody now for 11 years.

Perkins’ lawyer, Norman Butler, and Assistant District Attorney Glenn Cole determined doctors’ notes would suffice and Perkins wouldn’t need to be in court. That wasn’t their decision to make, Archie said.

“... Without the defendant here, the court cannot (decide if Perkins is able to stand trial) ... It is very necessary,” Archie said.

Now, he will remain incarcerated in North Carolina’s “Safekeeping” prison program until his new court date on Oct. 31. The Central Prison facility houses prisoners who need mental health care.

“Purgatory,” The Charlotte Observer’s four-part series on Perkins’ case, revealed that — until now — psychologists have repeatedly deemed him mentally-incapable of standing trial.

Now, “he’s as competent as he’s gonna get,” Bulter said on Friday.

Cold case murder court delay

Perkins entered purgatory behind bars when police arrested him for a cold-case murder 11 years ago, and an outdated law has helped keep him imprisoned since.

In 2012, Perkins was arrested in the 2005 murder of Justin Ervin. Another Charlotte man, already a convicted felon at the time, was charged with first-degree murder in the case before Perkins. Charges against him, though, were dismissed.

Just after the murder, police sought three men suspected in the killing. But ultimately, Perkins is the only suspect still implicated.

Twice in 2018, he agreed to appear in court for a plea deal, but each time he changed his mind once in front of a judge. A negotiated plea deal is still an option, Butler and Cole said on Friday. In court, Cole said Perkins — if he agrees to plead guilty — would be credited in sentencing for the time he’s already served in jail.

In Mecklenburg County Jail, attacks against guards and other incidents have led to him being Tased, sent to solitary confinement and going on and off hunger strikes. When not in mental health hospitals, records show, he would fight prison guards, break sprinklers and throw feces at the wall.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the District Attoney’s Office and Perkins’ lawyer all agree it is best if he stays in a mental health hospital until a trial or plea hearing, Assistant District Attorney Glenn Cole said.

When he’s jailed, he doesn’t take his medication, and he becomes a threat to himself and the guards, Perkins’ court-appointed lawyer told the judge on Friday.

In jail, Perkins goes “in reverse,” Butler said, referring to his mental health when not in a hospital setting.

“It’s just frustrating to see him revert back to that world which is not based in reality.”

Butler says he has gained Perkins’ trust, and that has taken the two a long way. In 2018, one of Perkins’ previous lawyers told a judge he was withdrawing from the case because he feared for his safety.

“He’s, in my opinion, pretty much done a 360, which I’m proud to say,” Butler said in court. “The last three visits were great ... He is willing to listen and make a decision whether he accepts a plea or goes to trial.”

Since his arrest, Perkins has been evaluated at least nine times, the Observer has previously reported. Court records show he was deemed at least temporarily lucid enough to stand trial twice, but he regressed and proceedings were paused both times.

Unsealed records in Perkins’ files depict a deeply paranoid and delusional man who has, in the past, been unable to understand his charges. More than a dozen other envelopes in his files remain sealed.

Doctors have diagnosed him with schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder, social anxiety disorder, and schizoaffective disorder over the last 20 years, court records show.

Charlotte man in jail ‘purgatory’

In the murder case — 11 years in, despite no verdict and no end in sight — a judge last year decided there was no “undue delay” for Perkins, or Ervin’s loved ones.

The Charlotte Observer’s investigative series “Purgatory,” published in July, dove deep into why Perkins has spent more than half of his adult life in legal purgatory, stuck between jail and mental health hospitals.

The case has stalled repeatedly at the point of a judge ruling his mental struggles prevent him from being able to understand the charges against him or consider a plea deal.

But that’s not the only reason for the 11-year delay.

North Carolina law generally — in a case like Perkins’ — caps a criminal suspect’s time in jail at 10 years after a finding they are mentally-incapable. That can help prevent a case from being stuck indefinitely. However, that part of state law wasn’t in place at the time of Perkins’ arrest. And even if the new version of the law applied, it’s legally-murky whether the 10-year cap applies to the first time or the most recent time a defendant was found incapable of proceeding.

Legal experts previously told The Charlotte Observer there’s not a clear court precedent on what should happen next.

Kevin Tully, Chief Public Defender for Mecklenburg County, told the Observer a defendant waiting for years in jail after being found incapable to proceed is not a violation of due process.

“The violation of due process would be if they went forward knowing that [the person is incapable of proceeding],” he said.

Perkins’ lawyer, Norman Butler, said in court he would bring a legal question to the judge overseeing the next hearing.

After, the Observer asked him if he would challenge whether the 10-year cap can be applied to Perkins’ already served time. A motion for that, if successful, could lead to dismissal of Perkins’ criminal charges.

Butler’s response: “Come back on October 31.”