By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
A Jasper County judge reset a hearing scheduled Friday in the criminal court case of Thomas White, a Joplin youth accused of discharging an assault rifle in 2006 in Memorial Middle School and attempting to shoot his principal.
White, 16, did not appear in court as attorneys on both sides sought time to absorb findings in the newly filed report of a state psychiatrist on the juvenile’s competency to assist in his own defense. White is being prosecuted as an adult on five felony counts related to the incident.
The report, which was filed with the court on Wednesday, is a closed portion of court record, and attorneys for both the public defender’s office and the Jasper County prosecutor’s office declined comment on what the psychiatrist’s conclusion was with respect to the boy’s competency.
“I think everybody wants to sit down and digest what the report says first,” White’s public defender, Brett Meeker, told the Globe.
Circuit Judge David Mouton reset a hearing on any motions that might be filed in the case as a consequence of the report for March 13 in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Either the defense or the prosecution could seek a second opinion if they are dissatisfied with the state psychiatrist’s conclusion. Each side has 10 days from the date the report was filed with the court to enter a motion seeking another opinion.
White remains in the care and custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health at a children’s psychiatric hospital in St. Louis. The judge noted in court Friday that he has been in contact with an assistant general counsel for the Department of Mental Health and was assured that the defendant will continue to receive treatment pending further decisions of the court.
White was 13 when he allegedly discharged an assault weapon into the ceiling of a crowded hallway of the school and repeatedly tried to shoot the principal who ushered him from the building. Police say further discharge of the weapon was thwarted by an improperly seated ammunition clip.
