By JOHN BURNETT By JOHN BURNETT ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald staff writer A 34-year-old Mountain View man accused of stabbing his longtime friend to death will undergo a mental exam. Deputy Public Defender Jeff Ng on Tuesday requested examination of his client,
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A 34-year-old Mountain View man accused of stabbing his longtime friend to death will undergo a mental exam.
Deputy Public Defender Jeff Ng on Tuesday requested examination of his client, David True Seal, by a panel of three mental health professionals “for fitness to proceed only.” Seal is accused of the slaying of 32-year-old Rory Thompson Wick on Nov. 5 in the Eden Roc subdivision property where both men lived in separate residences.
Police said Wick was stabbed multiple times in the heart and left lung by Seal, who escaped on Dec. 3, 2009, from the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe, Oahu. Seal had been at large since his escape.
Seal was committed to the mental hospital in April 2002 after being acquitted by reason of insanity for the kidnapping and attempted rape of an 8-year-old girl on Maui.
Hilo District Judge Harry Freitas set a hearing for Dec. 10 at 1:30 p.m. to consider the contents of the examiners’ reports.
Deputy Prosecutor Joseph Lee noted that the state had “no standing to object” but expressed concerns about the examiners considering only the issue of fitness to proceed and not the issue of whether Seal was criminally responsible for his actions at the time of the stabbing.
Lee said afterwards that separating the two issues gives the defense an advantage, which he likened to “taking a second bite” of an apple.
“If the examiners determine that the defendant is unfit to proceed, that’s it and everything stops,” he said. “If they determine he is fit, then the defense can come back and ask for a determination of criminal responsibility.”
Lee said that Seal’s fitness to proceed will be determined by his mental state when he is interviewed by the mental health professionals. He said that if criminal responsibility needs to be addressed, it will be based on his mental state at the time of the alleged offense.
Dr. Frederic Manke, a state Department of Health psychologist who acts as a liaison between DOH and the Hilo courts, said afterwards that mental examiners decide if a defendant is criminally responsible based on their “view of … reports of witnesses and arresting officers and investigators.”
One courtroom spectator, who declined to give her name, described Wick as “one of my best friends.” She said she was “in shock” and shed tears when discussing him.
“There is no way this should have happened,” said the woman, who said she’s known both Wick and Seal — who she knew as Serif Swaim — for about a year.
“Rory didn’t deserve this. He did everything for Serif. He built a house for Serif. He drove him to his kendo lessons.
“… He was kind, loving, he would give you the shirt off his back and he was the best single father I’d ever seen. I can’t find enough words to say about him. He made sure those kids had food, clothes (and) private school.”
Seal remains in custody without bail at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
