A Montgomery County, Maryland, judge ruled Monday to postpone until December a competency hearing for Catherine Hoggle, who’s facing murder charges in the 2014 disappearance of her two young children.
Judge James Bonifant was to hear arguments on the mental state of Hoggle, 38, but decided to put that off until Dec. 8 and 9 after receiving a request from Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy that the state be permitted to conduct its own competency evaluation of Hoggle.
Last month, Hoggle was re-indicted for two counts of murder in connection to the disappearance of 2-year-old Jacob, and 3-year-old Sarah, who were last seen with their mother 11 years ago, according to police and prosecutors.
The original indictments against Hoggle were dismissed in 2022 because Maryland law says a person charged with a felony can only be held five years if they remain incompetent to stand trial.
Hoggle appeared in court in a tan jumpsuit with her hands cuffed in front of her. She wore black glasses and looked mostly at Felsen during the proceeding.
McCarthy on Monday also introduced Washington Post articles suggesting the mental facility where Hoggle was confined after being found mentally incompetent to stand trial had lost its accreditation. Defense attorney David Felsen questioned the veracity of that reporting and insisted his client had already been found incompetent twice before, including in a new evaluation by different doctor.
In an Aug. 5 bond hearing, McCarthy described previously undisclosed evidence that came from a 2014 group-therapy session Hoggle attended with Troy Turner, the father of the missing children.
“At that point in time, she made a comment to a woman that was in those therapy sessions with her that she had strangled her children,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy also described a drawing he said Hoggle made in response to a prompt about eliminating stressors from your life: It showed children being thrown into a trash can.
However, in a motion filed Friday, Felsen, Hoggle’s lawyer, said prosecutors haven’t developed or provided the defense with any new evidence, and argued the judge should dismiss the indictment, saying the state had already maxed out its time to restore Hoggle’s competency.
McCarthy said Monday he needed time to examine videos and documents previously unavailable to the prosecution because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. He also asked that the doctor who performed the most recent evaluation of Hoggle be present at the competency hearing in December.
Findings of sealed competency evaluation to be discussed
In the Aug. 5 bond hearing, Judge Jeannie Cho ruled Hoggle was a flight risk, and ordered her held without bond.
In addition, a new competency evaluation by the Maryland Department of Health was ordered. Court records show prosecutors and the defense received the findings on Thursday, which were sealed.
Prosecutors have said Hoggle’s mental health has improved greatly recently to the point that discharge documents from Clifton T. Perkins hospital showed she is no longer symptomatic or delusional, leading to her release to a halfway house.
After receiving the most recent evaluation, in a motion to modify bond, Felsen suggested the evaluator still believes Hoggle is incompetent to assist in her own defense.
Regardless of the doctor’s opinion, after discussions of the findings in open court, the judge will ultimately decide whether Hoggle is competent to stand trial.
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