Opinion ID: 3046757
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pretrial Determination of Competency

Text: After Ponticelli was charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of robbery with a deadly weapon, Ponticelli’s counsel moved for an evaluation of his client’s competency. The trial court then appointed three mental health experts to evaluate Ponticelli’s competency to stand trial: Dr. Harry Krop, Dr. Rodney Poetter, and Dr. Robin Mills. At a pretrial hearing, both Dr. Krop and Dr. Poetter testified that Ponticelli was competent, but Dr. Mills testified that Ponticelli was incompetent because he suffered from a delusional thought process. The state trial court found Ponticelli to be competent. Ponticelli v. State (Ponticelli I), 593 So. 2d 483, 487 (Fla. 1991).