A man charged with robbing Point Loma Community Bank was committed Jan. 24 to a state mental hospital after a judge found he was mentally incompetent to stand trial.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Albert Harutunian III ordered Joseph Edward Revis, 54, to be housed at Patton State Hospital for a maximum of three years. His attorney, Stephanie Slattery, said if Revis regains his mental competency, he will be returned to San Diego for trial.
Slattery told another judge about her doubt that Revis understood court proceedings and that he didn’t seem to be able to assist in his own defense. The judge suspended criminal proceedings and a psychiatrist evaluated him Dec. 27 in county jail. The doctor wrote a report that led to Harutunian’s ruling to commit him.
The doctor wrote that Revis “lacks the ability to make decisions regarding anti-psychotic medications.” He suggested that a judge could issue an order for “involuntary medication” since Revis was not taking the psychiatric drugs prescribed to him.
Defendants who are sent to Patton for mental incompetency sometimes return months later after they start taking anti-psychotic medications.
Mental competency is a different category from insanity. Slattery had not raised insanity as a defense.
Revis was accused of taking an undisclosed amount of money from the bank at 1350 Rosecrans St. on Oct. 9, 2006. A witness, Frank Buch of Point Loma, was in the bank and saw a man leaving a teller’s window with money.
Bush followed him to a white Toyota and wrote down the car license plate number. Buch notified San Diego police, who arrested Revis shortly thereafter. Police praised Buch for his quick action, which led to the arrest.
Harutunian gave Revis credit for 107 days previously spent in jail. Revis has been convicted of robbery and larceny in 1987 in San Diego, according to court records.