Competency evaluation for killer still on hold

A competency evaluation ordered last June for convicted killer Roberto Arguelles remains incomplete as lawyers in the case continue to debate the date from which that evaluation should begin.

State attorneys argue the evaluation should only consider Arguelles' health and behavior after May 2001 — the last time Arguelles was found competent by doctors and psychologists.

But attorney Ed Brass, who last spring independently asked the courts to consider the death-row inmate's mental health before executing him, says a review should go back further. Arguelles has a history of mental illness and all of that history should be considered, Brass said. Arguelles as served as his own attorney throughout the case and the court must to establish that he has fully understood the consequences of waiving his rights at various stages of the case.

Choosing May 2001 or any date from which to begin an evaluation of Arguelles' mental health is to "draw arbitrary lines in the sand legally," he said after the hearing.

Third District Judge Michael Burton appointed Brass to represent Arguelles, after the inmate pointedly asked the court, "Who's going to represent me." Last summer Brass was appointed as Arguelles' attorney for the competency evaluation.

Arguelles, 41, was convicted in 1997 of raping and murdering four Salt Lake County women in 1992. He had been set for execution by firing squad June 27, but a stay was granted June 4 after the Department of Corrections requested a competency evaluation. In the motion filed by Brass, he said a competency review was in order because Arguelles' behavior in prison had reportedly become increasingly inconsistent and bizarre.