The strong preponderance of evidence indicates that accused mass killer One Goh is still mentally incompetent to stand trial on seven counts of murder and other charges for a shooting rampage at Oikos University in Oakland in 2012, a judge ruled Thursday.
At the end of a hearing that spanned eight days over two weeks, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gloria Rhynes said Goh, 47, a Korean national, suffers from schizophrenia and is unable to assist his lawyers in a rational manner.
Goh is charged with seven counts of murder, three counts of premeditated attempted murder and the special circumstance allegations of committing a murder during a kidnapping and committing multiple murders for the shooting at Oikos, a Christian vocational school located near Oakland International Airport, on April 2, 2012.
Addressing her comment to victims' family members who were in court, Rhynes said, "My decision doesn't mean this trial will never occur, it just means it won't happen yet. I'm very sorry for what brought you into this courtroom."
Rhynes said, "Justice is not denied, it's just delayed."
Prosecutors say Goh had dropped out of Oikos several months before the shooting and wanted his tuition refunded and targeted an administrator who wasn't present on the day of the shooting. But criminal proceedings against him were suspended on Oct. 1, 2012, after his lawyers questioned his mental competency to stand trial. On Jan. 7, 2013, a judge ruled that he was incompetent, citing reports by two psychiatrists who examined him. He was moved to Napa State Hospital a few months later.
Most doctors who've examined him have continued to say that he is incapable of understanding the proceedings against him and assisting in his defense, but a July report by Todd Schirmer, a forensic psychologist at the Napa facility, found Goh competent to stand trial so a judge recently ordered that Goh face a competency hearing.
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Rhynes' ruling means that Goh will remain at a psychiatric treatment facility such as Napa State Hospital for now.
Goh's attorney, Assistant Public Defender David Klaus, said he believes Rhynes "made the right ruling" but added, "We don't consider this a victory for any party because of what happened to the victims and their families."
Klaus also said the ruling "is not what Mr. Goh wanted" because he wants to get the death penalty as soon as possible since he wants to die.
Klaus said he thinks that Goh will be returned to competency and stand trial at some point in the future.
