Plea deal in Heber hostage incident

A Pleasant Grove man who prosecutors say took several hostages at a medical clinic in Heber City in January entered a last-minute plea Tuesday on the day his trial was set to begin.

Royal K. Giles, 35, pleaded guilty and mentally ill to three counts of second-degree felony kidnapping. He originally was charged with first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping, second-degree felony aggravated assault and a class B misdemeanor count of impersonating an officer.

Under Utah law, kidnapping is a second-degree felony and carries a maximum term of 1 to 15 years in prison.

Giles will probably be evaluated for a mental illness and then experts will report to the judge, who will decide the extent of Giles' treatment, said Thomas Low, Wasatch County prosecuting attorney.

"Sometimes I think it's hard for someone to stand up and say 'guilty' when he used to think that what he did is excusable because he had weird things in his mind at the time," Low said. "Now he recognizes that he needs to stand up and admit what he did and I commend him for that."

By pleading guilty and mentally ill at the time of the crime, Giles accepted criminal responsibility for the hostage takeover, Low said.

Police say Giles went to the Wasatch Medical Clinic on Jan. 25 to speak to a doctor who had treated his stepfather two years earlier. He then became angry and afraid when he saw another patient typing at a laptop computer.

When the patient was called by a nurse, Giles allegedly pulled a gun on him and ordered him to lie on the floor, pretending to be a police officer.

Police Sgt. Perry Rose persuaded Giles to surrender within minutes and there were no injuries.

In April, two state-appointed psychologists found Giles mentally competent to stand trial. But Michael Petro, a Provo-based defense attorney, said that both the psychologists noted that his client may have suffered from diminished capacity on the day of the incident.

Low said that the plea will also allow Giles to receive treatment.

"I feel very good about it," Low said. "It guarantees treatment and a conviction, three convictions in fact. It guarantees confinement, and those are all good results."

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E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com