ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Montgomery County District Court judge has ordered a competency hearing for Catherine Hoggle, the mother of two young children and the last known person to see them when they disappeared in September 2014.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy requested the hearing to challenge the findings of doctors at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital, who in a February report concluded that Hoggle remains incompetent to stand trial.
Outside the courtroom, McCarthy said this is the first time he has ever challenged the findings of the Perkins evaluators in a competency hearing, although he has questioned findings when the state doctors found a dependent not criminally responsible — Maryland’s version of innocent by reason of insanity.
In a competency hearing, the judge could question Hoggle about whether she understands the charges against her to determine whether she can assist her attorneys in her defense.
Hoggle’s attorney, David Felsen, argued the doctors at Perkins — the state’s mental hospital in criminal cases — had already determined his client is incompetent.
McCarthy told District Court Judge John Moffett that Hoggle has expressed a firm grasp of her legal situation in discussions with the children’s father, Troy Turner, and Hoggle’s mother, Lindsey.
Felsen told reporters the affidavits of Turner, Hoggle’s mother, and an aunt don’t reflect the psychotic thinking of his client.
Felsen says Hoggle “wants to go home and be with her children.”
Hoggle has previously said she left her children with a friend. Prosecutors and police have not revealed any evidence of the children’s well being, although McCarthy and the children’s father have acknowledged the possibility they could be dead.
Hoggle is presently charged with misdemeanors — neglect, hindering, and obstruction in the childrens’ disappearance.
Asked why he hasn’t charged Hoggle with murder, McCarthy declined to speak about this case, but said charging with a more serious crime at this point would eliminate his ability to use a grand jury in a fact-finding capacity.
Hoggle’s lawyer has argued if the misdemeanor charges will never go to trial, his client should be released.
The competency hearing is scheduled for April 25.
