A former soldier accused of calmly walking through an RV dealership last year as he tactically shot at employees has been ordered into a Restoration to Competency mental health program that could put the premeditated murder prosecution on hold for nearly two years.
Bruce Alvin Hansberry Jr. has been in the Cochise County jail since Nov. 14, 2022, following a manhunt after a masked gunman wearing a tactical vest opened fire with a rifle at Desert RV Sales in a rural area between Benson and Sierra Vista. The gunman then fled, first by vehicle and then by foot.
Hansberry, 38, is being held on a no-bail order. In addition to the murder charge, he faces more than a dozen other felonies in connection with the incident.
Questions about Hansberry’s mental health were immediately raised based on his actions as well as his demeanor and comments with investigators. There were also questions of whether he understood what he was accused of doing and whether he would be able to work with his court-appointed attorney to prepare for trial.
Under Arizona law, a person “shall not be tried, convicted, sentenced or punished for an offense if the court determines that the person is incompetent to stand trial.”
The questions about Hansberry’s mental state prompted Judge Joel Larson of the Cochise County Superior Court to order a competency examination. The results of that examination led the judge on Monday to order Hansberry into a program intended to restore his competency.
The restoration program is intended to end after 15 months, but a defendant can be kept in the program for six more months if progress toward competency is being made.
Incompetence in criminal matters is defined in Arizona Revised Statutes as a lack of ability to understand the nature and the object of the prosecution, as well as a lack of ability to assist in one’s defense due to “mental illness, defect, or disability.”
However, the presence of a mental illness, defect, or disability is not grounds alone for finding a defendant incompetent to stand trial.
For purposes of criminal prosecution, the mental illness, defect, or disability must also be “a psychiatric or neurological disorder that is evidenced by behavioral or emotional symptoms, including congenital mental conditions, conditions resulting from injury or disease and developmental disabilities…”
The competency review process begins with a motion for an examination, something the prosecutor, the defense attorney, or even the judge may initiate at any time. A judge must then decide if “reasonable grounds exist” for an examination by one or more mental health experts.
If such grounds exist, as Larson found in Hansberry’s case, the defendant must undergo physical, neurological, and/or psychological examinations “to adequately determine the defendant’s mental condition.” A report is then submitted under seal to the trial judge by the mental health expert.
Larson received the confidential examination report about Hansberry last month. It included a finding that the examiner believed the defendant was incompetent but potentially restorable.
The examination report may have also addressed whether a defendant might be helped by medication and whether a defendant is amenable to medication. No one has publicly broached that subject yet in Hansberry’s case, but forced medication is something Larson has the authority to order in the future if deemed necessary at a special hearing.
There is, however, the possibility Hansberry cannot be restored to competency, with or without medication.
The person who supervises Hansberry’s restoration treatment at the jail must provide periodic status reports to the judge. The supervisor is also responsible for notifying the court if Hansberry is restored to competency to stand trial.
If the competency is due in part to involuntary medication, then Larson will have authority to order continued medicating of Hansberry until the case is resolved.
Most defendants are restored to competency, but the treatment supervisor could notify Larson that there “is no substantial probability that the defendant will regain competency” within the 21 months allowed under law for restoration.
The judge would likely have Hansberry evaluated for civil commitment to the Arizona State Hospital, which requires a finding that the Cochise County Attorney’s Office has shown “the proof is evident or the presumption great” that Hansberry committed the charged offenses.
Larson would also have to make a finding of whether Hansberry should be considered dangerous.
But there are rare cases in which the defendant is determined to have been legally insane at the time of the alleged offense. This is referred to in Arizona as “guilty except insane” and has not yet been raised by Hansberry’s court-appointed attorney.
State law utilizes a very narrow definition of insanity for purposes of criminal defense. A separate examination process is utilized for an insanity defense, which often relies on medical opinions developed during the restoration process.
Hansberry will undergo the competency treatment program at the Cochise County jail. The judge has ordered the parties back to court for a review hearing on Nov. 20, just days after the first restoration to competency status report must be filed.
Under Arizona law, any evidence or statements obtained during Hansberry’s competency examination or the restoration process are not admissible at any proceeding to determine his guilt or innocence.
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