Woman accused of stabbing IU student on Bloomington bus found competent for trial
INDIANAPOLIS — In September, a psychiatrist said a Bloomington woman charged with a federal hate crime for a 2023 stabbing incident was uncooperative, mentally unstable and incompetent to stand trial.
But during a Jan. 31 U.S. District Court hearing, a forensic psychologist testified Billie Davis, accused of attacking a Chinese-American Indiana University student with a pocketknife, is now in a better frame of mind and competent.
Lesli Johnson from the Bureau of Prisons said the 57-year-old suspect has a polite demeanor and her thoughts are clear and logical. She said Davis has "great factual knowledge of how the court system works" and would be able to assist her lawyer in preparing her defense.
The changes in Davis are so profound that even her federal public defender agreed with Johnson's assessment. "She is competent. She is presently able to assist me," Leslie Wine said.
Until this point, Wine had been preparing an insanity defense for her client.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt asked what had changed between September and November to explain the turnaround.
"It's because of the Abilify," Wine told the judge.
Abilify is the trade name for aripiprazole, an anti-psychotic medication that alters the actions of chemicals in the brain used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Johnson does prisoner competency evaluations at a federal detention center in Houston. She interviewed Davis for about five hours during a six-week stint Davis spent at the Texas facility before being returned to the Knox County Jail in Vincennes.
Johnson said Davis has a borderline personality disorder, PTSD, substance use disorder and is also bipolar. A week into her stay in Texas, a doctor prescribed aripiprazole for Davis and she was given a long-term injection. Combined with other drugs Davis takes for anxiety and depression, her psychosis faded.
"She's able to understand the charges against her and has the ability to aid in her defense," Johnson said. "The symptoms she may have experienced do not interfere with these things."
Wine asked the judge to request that Davis continue receiving the injections while incarcerated at the county jail. "We went round and round with Knox County that she needed this. We knew this worked best for her," Wine said. "That was the difference. I hope Knox County will continue to provide the medications she needs."
Wine also asked the judge to put in an order to the jail that Davis spend less time in isolation.
Pratt agreed with the lawyers that Davis seems able to proceed. "Right now, she is on the right medication, the right track."
When Wine said she would be filing a motion to continue a Feb. 22 final pretrial hearing and the March 11 trial, Pratt balked, asking why it was necessary.
Wine and the federal prosecutor on the case said they are discussing a possible plea agreement and need more time to negotiate the terms in order to avoid a trial.
Pratt said the deadlines stand. If there's no plea agreement the trial will proceed.
"We are set for jury trial March 11," she said. "When they (defendants such as Davis) sit in county jails, they tend to deteriorate."
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Trial scheduled for Billie Davis hate crime IU student stabbing
