Stockton连环枪击案被告受审能力案交陪审团裁决：六周证词结束，检辩争论其是真病还是拒不配合
位于加州圣华金县的 Stockton 市连环枪击案被告 Wesley Brownlee 是否具备受审能力，已交由陪审团裁决。据 USA Today 10月23日报道，经过六周证词——出庭者包括心理健康专家、监狱工作人员、家属与数十名其他证人——陪审团已于周四开始评议，判断 Brownlee 是否理解针对他的诉讼程序、能否理性地协助律师准备辩护。此案涉及六起杀人指控与一起杀人未遂指控，检方寻求死刑。
按加州法律，被告须同时满足三点才算具备受审能力：理解刑事诉讼的性质与目的、理解自己在诉讼中的地位与处境、能以理性方式协助律师辩护；裁决须陪审团一致通过。本次评议不判定 Brownlee 是否有罪。Brownlee 于2022年10月被捕，检方指控他枪杀六名男子——Juan Vazquez Serrano（40岁）、Paul Yaw（35岁）、Salvador Debudey Jr.（43岁）、Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez（21岁）、Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz（52岁）与 Lawrence Lopez Sr.（54岁），并企图杀害幸存者 Natasha LaTour。这串枪击在2022年引发 Stockton 及周边社区广泛恐慌、当局大规模搜捕。
辩方律师 Allison Nobert 对陪审团表示，证据显示 Brownlee 的沟通与接触能力明显衰退，他患有未经治疗的精神障碍，无法为这起复杂的死刑辩护提供律师所需信息；其律师团队2024年因与他「沟通中断」正式提出受审能力存疑声明。检方副地方检察官 Elton Grau 则反驳称，监狱视频、通话录音与家人对话显示 Brownlee 在符合自身利益时能连贯沟通，他理解指控、是「选择不配合」而非不能配合，受审能力应以其当前状态而非既往病史判断。
若陪审团裁定其不具备受审能力，刑事诉讼将继续暂停、他将接受恢复受审能力的治疗；若裁定具备能力，这起拖延多年的谋杀案将推进至正审。受审能力审理自9月11日开始。（GSM 据 USA Today 与《The Record》报道）
来源：GSM·美国
Competency Case of Accused Stockton Serial Killer Brownlee Goes to the Jury After Six Weeks of Testimony
Whether Wesley Brownlee, the defendant in the Stockton serial shootings in San Joaquin County, California, is mentally competent to stand trial is now in the hands of a jury. According to USA Today's October 23 report, after six weeks of testimony from mental health experts, jail staff, family members and dozens of other witnesses, jurors began deliberations on Thursday on whether Brownlee understands the proceedings against him and can rationally assist his attorneys. The underlying case involves six murder charges and one attempted-murder charge, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Under California law, a defendant is competent only if he understands the nature and purpose of the criminal proceedings, understands his own status in them, and can assist counsel in a rational manner; the verdict must be unanimous. The deliberations do not decide Brownlee's guilt. Brownlee was arrested in October 2022. Prosecutors accuse him of fatally shooting six men — Juan Vazquez Serrano, 40; Paul Yaw, 35; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21; Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz, 52; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54 — and of attempting to kill Natasha LaTour, who survived. The shootings spread fear across Stockton and surrounding communities in 2022 and prompted a massive manhunt.
Defense attorney Allison Nobert told jurors the evidence showed a clear decline in Brownlee's ability to communicate and engage, arguing that he suffers from an untreated mental disorder and cannot give lawyers the information needed to defend a complex capital case; his legal team filed a formal declaration of doubt about his competence in 2024 after what it described as a shutdown in communication. Deputy District Attorney Elton Grau countered that jail video, recorded phone calls and family conversations show Brownlee communicating coherently when it serves his interests, and that he understands the charges and is choosing not to cooperate; competency, he argued, turns on Brownlee's present condition, not his past mental-health history.
If the jury finds Brownlee incompetent, the criminal proceedings will remain paused while he receives treatment to restore competency. If it finds him competent, the long-delayed murder case will move forward toward trial. The competency trial began on September 11. (GSM, from USA Today and The Record reporting)
Source: GSM·America
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：加州 Stockton 市区航拍（资料图）。照片：Quintin Soloviev，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Aerial view of Stockton, California (file photo). Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
