A La Jolla man who was convicted of slashing the face of a friend has been committed to a state mental hospital by a judge who determined he was not mentally competent to be sentenced. Amier Rocky Issa, 33, will be transferred from jail in San Diego to Patton State Hospital near San Bernardino, where he will be housed and receive psychiatric medication. San Diego Superior Court Judge Frederick Maguire ruled on Jan. 12 that Issa lacks the capacity to decide whether to take certain medications and he needs to take them for his recovery. Issa was convicted on Oct. 6 of assault with a deadly weapon upon Michael Serrato, 29, a Hillcrest waiter who received a five-inch slash with a knife. The incident happened around 6:20 p.m. on July 11, 2008, as Serrato was walking home from work. Serrato received 20 stitches on his face and eight stitches on the inside of his mouth. Issa had been free on $20,000 bond, but he didn’t show up to hear the jury’s verdict, therefore becoming a fugitive. He was arrested at the MGM Hotel in Las Vegas on Oct. 14, and was extradited to San Diego. His attorney argued that he was mentally incompetent to be sentenced, and the judge agreed. After he is stabilized on medication, it is likely Issa will be returned to San Diego for sentencing and he faces four years in prison.