VISTA — A forensic psychiatrist has concluded that Malcolm Pope, who has been accused of murdering his mother at her Vista home, is not mentally competent to stand trial, with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office pushing for additional analysis.
The findings of the report by Dr. Michael Takamura, an expert who has assisted in various evaluations for criminal cases in San Diego County, were shared in court at the San Diego Central Courthouse on Monday.
Pope, 27, has been in custody since April and is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of his mother, Mireya Pope. He has pleaded not guilty.
On the morning of April 23, law enforcement was called to a home on North Citrus Avenue in Vista for a wellness check and discovered Mireya Pope, who was deceased with obvious signs of trauma.
Law enforcement also discovered that Malcolm Pope had barricaded himself in the bathroom at the home, leading to a multihour SWAT standoff before he was finally taken into custody. Mireya Pope is believed to have died between April 22 and 23.
A finding of mentally incompetent to stand trial means the person is unable to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings and/or unable to assist counsel in the conduct of a defense in a rational manner.
During the Monday hearing, Deputy District Attorney Alanna Platt shared concerns about the conclusion of the report, and asked for the court to authorize a second evaluation.
“It’s clear from the evaluator’s conclusions that the defendant has a rational understanding of the charges against him and the proceedings against him. He’s clearly intelligent, and from the evaluation, he understands the role of my office, the judge, his attorney, and he wants to plead not guilty,” Platt said.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Kristopher S. Young declined to order another evaluation. He stated that he had no authority to do so, noting that there was no indication that Pope was malingering or exaggerating any symptoms of mental illness in the evaluation.`
However, he said the District Attorney’s Office is welcome to hire its own expert to evaluate Pope and then present the conclusions regarding his competency to stand trial.
“The charges are quite serious, and so the court understands the people’s position, but I don’t have, I don’t believe, statutory authority for that, and I don’t feel that we’re going to start giving second opinions, but you’re entitled to go and hire your own expert,” Young said.
The mental competency hearing has been delayed to Aug. 28 to give the DA’s Office time to decide whether to hire its own forensic expert.
Pope’s public defender did not disagree with Takamura’s conclusion of mental incompetency.
Mireya Pope, 60, worked for several years in local schools, including as a health clerk at Solana Highlands Elementary, a program instructor at the Solana Beach School District Child Development Center, and an assistant teacher at LePort Montessori School.
