In a tiny cell near the entrance of the Hamilton County Jail, the psychologist asked Courtney Birt a series of questions.
Did he understand what a district attorney was? And the general role of a prosecuting attorney? And the functions of judges and defense attorneys and even courtroom officers and bailiffs in a criminal proceeding? Beginning in the fall of 2014, Michael Loftin conducted four of these meetings. Birt’s answers could be crucial in determining whether the 22-year-old is competent to stand trial after being charged with first-degree murder.
Courtney D BirtFollowing seven hours of testimony Tuesday, Criminal Court Judge Don Poole held off from making that ruling, granting Birt and his defense attorney a few more weeks to hunt down a final witness who never responded to a subpoena. Poole could make a decision during the next hearing on March 2, defense attorney John Allen Brooks said, capping a debate that has persisted for nearly 2 1/2 years in court.
In the meantime, Poole will have to ponder the road a handful of state doctors have traveled since 2013, when police say Birt shot and killed 16-year-old Howard School student Lamunta Williams in an abandoned house on Carr Street. He was 18 at the time.
Authorities had questioned his competency before, when he picked up charges in 2010 as a minor in Chattanooga. With Birt’s IQ of 59 in mind, Loftin began their 2014 sessions with the goal of improving his legal fluency, since another evaluator had deemed Birt incompetent but “trainable,” the psychologist said.