Is teen immigrant competent in St. Johns deputy's death: 5 takeaways from hearing

The competency of Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old charged in the death of a St. Johns County lawman during a tussle, is the latest focus in the case of an immigrant who speaks little English.

Friday the defense and prosecution took turns calling experts to determine whether he's capable of understanding the legal system and the ramifications of his case enough go to trial. After three hours of testimony, Judge R. Lee Smith said he's going to need more time to mull the complicated issues.

It all revolves around what happened late May 19 when St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Michael Kunovich decided without being called for service to question a young man he deemed suspicious in the Super 8 motel parking lot on Florida 16 in St. Augustine, according to arrest documents.

The questioning didn't go well, as the young man later identified as Aguilar Mendez (all initial reports misspelled his first name Vergilio) couldn't understand or communicate well. Kunovich, 52, begins to search him and Aguilar Mendez resists. Soon two other deputies arrive and take the 5-foot-4, 115-pound teen down as Kunovich stuns him repeatedly with his taser, all seen on body-worn camera video.

Aguilar Mendez, screaming for his family, tries to gain control of the taser and the struggle ensues. Toward the very end of the 6-minute scuffle, the deputies see that their handcuffed suspect has a small folding knife and disarm him, according to the documents and video. Shortly thereafter, Kunovich collapses and later dies in medical distress.

Aguilar Mendez, who came here from Guatemala and was staying with other farmworkers at the hotel, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of an officer and resisting an officer with violence. He is being detained without bail, which his attorney is seeking to have set after filing a motion on Nov. 21. That has yet to be decided.

Here are five takeaways from Friday's proceedings.

Who testified at Friday's competency hearing for Virgilio Aguilar Mendez?

Forensic psychologist Dr. Yenys Castillo, neuropsychologist Dr. Yolanda Leon and Mari Blanco of The Guatemalan-Maya Center testified for the defense.

Forensic psychologist Roger Davis testified for the prosecution.

Factors that Virgilio Aguilar Mendez is incompetent

Both Castillo and Leon believe Aguilar Mendez is not competent to proceed to trial. Both repeated many of the same statements about how difficult it was and is to communicate with him and even the translators, largely because he speaks a very distinct language of Mam and even has trouble with Spanish.

Each said he mostly answers yes or uh huh to questions, even when it’s clear he doesn’t understand and can't articulate when asked to explain. He can put together some small, simple sentences, but "the syntax is all off," Leon said.

He particularly has trouble with numbers and dates, Castillo said.

“He couldn’t understand the difference between being guilty, pleading guilty or being found guilty, and those are very different concepts, he couldn’t understand that," she said. "He couldn’t understand what the potential penalties are or … the legal system.”

Can he be taught in time for his case to go to trial? Leon doesn't think he can be restored to competency but deserves the chance.

Factors that Aguilar Mendez is competent

Davis said the level of understanding is debatable. Aguilar Mendez was living independently with friends and working, despite some intellectual issues, so that should account for him being able to adapt. Navigating what it took to get to the United States also showed what he can accomplish.

“I believe he’s competent even though he performed poorly when I questioned him about the legal system," Davis said. "I believe that some of that was due to poor effort and I believe that some of that might also be that he’s from another country with a different legal system and he’s unfamiliar with our legal system. But that’s not a barrier to competency according to the statute. There’s a capacity to learn that information.”

Mentally, he's also sound, Davis said.

“If someone is incompetent, two major ways that they’re incompetent is they’re either psychotic or suffering from mania," he said. "There were no indications he was suffering from either of those conditions.”

What is recommended for Aguilar Mendez?

Assistant Public Defender Rosemarie Peoples asked the judge to find Aguilar Mendez incompetent, allow his release and grant competency training with an appropriate agency.

Assistant State Attorney K. Mark Johnson noted to the judge that none of the experts testified he has any mental illness. He believes there is an ability to provide competency, and though there are complications with the language issue, interpreters are available.

What was decided by the judge and what's next?

Smith said he needs more time to review this and that there's still the matter of the bond hearing. So they'll reconvene at an as-yet-decided date.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Is immigrant competent in St. Johns County sheriff's sergeant's death