A 27-year-old ex-con charged with the ambush killings of two Palm Springs police officers may have suffered traumatic amnesia during last fall's shooting, preventing his recollection of the events and his ability to assist in his defense, the defendant's attorney suggested Monday.
A mental competency trial began this morning for John Hernandez Felix, who faces charges of murder and other counts that could result in the death penalty.
To obtain a mental incompetency finding, Felix's attorneys would need to provide "substantial evidence" that their client, who's being held without bail, does not understand the nature of the criminal proceedings against him and cannot assist them in his defense. Dr. William H. Jones, who examined Felix during a two-hour interview in May, said Felix appeared to understand why he was being held and also scored well on a test measuring his ability to consult with his counsel.
Felix scored 78 on a recent IQ test and told Jones that in his youth, he was in "resource classes," which are classes for students of normal intelligence, but with specific learning disorders. Jones also testified that Felix told him he was suffering from hallucinations and "presented himself as a childlike person who did not understand why he was being incarcerated."
However, Felix's familiarity with the criminal justice system through his prior convictions were part of what led Jones to conclude that Felix understood what he was facing. Jones said that after talking with the defendant, he "believed (Felix) had more understanding than he was admitting."
Defense attorney John Dolan asked several questions in regard to traumatic amnesia, in which emotional trauma omits certain events from memory in order to shield a person from the traumatic event. Dolan suggested that Felix may not be able to remember the Oct. 8 shooting that killed veteran training Officer Jose Gilbert Vega, 63 and rookie Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27, due to trauma suffered that day.
Jones said there were no indications that Felix suffered any such trauma, and thus he did not touch upon the subject of amnesia in his report. However, a neuropsychologist who concluded that Felix's competency to stand trial was "questionable" may provide more answers as to potential traumatic amnesia when she testifies later.
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Jones also testified that he found claims of traumatic amnesia were more common in suspects of violent crimes, particularly homicides. Felix is accused of shooting Vega, Zerebny and a third officer through the metal screen door of his home when they responded to a family disturbance call. He also allegedly fired on two of their colleagues, who were not struck by the gunfire. The shooting triggered a 12-hour standoff and his eventual surrender.
Prosecutors allege Felix donned body armor and fired armor-piercing rounds from an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. District Attorney Mike Hestrin has alleged that Felix specifically targeted police. "This individual knew what he was doing. His actions were deliberate. He attacked these officers for no other reason than they were there, answering a call for service," Hestrin said when the charges were announced last fall.
The deaths of Vega and Zerebny marked the first time Palm Springs police officers had been killed in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 1962, when Officer Lyle Wayne Larrabee died during a vehicle pursuit. The only other death in the department was that of Officer Gale Gene Eldridge, fatally shot Jan. 18, 1961, while investigating an armed robbery.
Vega had been with the department for 35 years -- five years past his retirement eligibility -- and had planned to finish his career last December. He had eight children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Zerebny had been with the department for a year and a half and had just returned to duty from maternity leave after the birth of a daughter, Cora, four months before her death.
