Lizandro Osorio-Mejia, the Morristown man accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the Traction Line recreational trail last year, is incompetent to stand trial, a doctor testified on Thursday.
Osorio-Mejia has a “mild cognitive disorder due to substance abuse,” and difficulty grasping the concepts of plea bargains, neutrality of judges, and his Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify, said Dr. Tarmeen Sahni, appearing virtually at a competency hearing before Superior Court Judge Claudia Jones in Morristown.
“I think the bottom line is, it’s clear that Mr. Osorio-Mejia is, in fact, incompetent,” summarized defense lawyer Gracia Robert Montilus.
But legal standards do not require defendants to be constitutional scholars, countered Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Catherine LaQuaglia.
Contending Osorio-Mejia has “more than a rudimentary understanding” of the basics, she said he should be tried for his “incredibly serious” charges.
Osorio-Mejia, who was 18 at the time, faces 14 charges stemming from his alleged ambush of a woman who was strolling on the Traction Line, near the Morristown-Morris Township border, on the afternoon of May 3, 2022.
Authorities say he threatened the 57-year-old victim with a rock, attempted to rob her, then forced her to perform a sex act. When she bit him, he fled, along with a 17-year-old who acted as his lookout, according to investigators. They said the victim sustained a fractured knee.
Osorio-Mejia listened impassively through headphones to a Spanish interpreter during Thursday’s 70-minute proceeding, and did not appear to look at the victim, who observed from the gallery.
Sahni, a clinical forensic psychologist at the state’s Ann Klein Forensic Center, evaluated Osorio-Mejia twice in May. She said he has disorders related to alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and inhalants.
Often “angry and irritable,” Osorio-Mejia has had physical altercations while detained at the Morris County Jail, and has received counseling for anxiety, depression, ruminating thoughts and adjustment issues, the doctor said.
While Osorio-Mejia’s competency “may likely be restorable,” Sahni could not predict when. She recommended cognitive and medical testing, to determine whether psychotropic medication might enable him to stand trial.
LaQuaglia asked the judge to order such testing before declaring Osorio-Mejia incompetent. Jones said she will issue a written opinion. She scheduled another hearing for next month.
Osorio-Mejia has a 10th-grade education, according to Sahni. The prosecution previously offered a deal that would have sent him to jail for a decade, in exchange for a guilty plea to first-degree aggravated sexual assault.
His alleged accomplice was charged as a juvenile. LaQuaglia said she could not discuss the status of that case.
