A man who was charged last August in the fatal shooting his girlfriend, before turning the gun on himself in an attempted suicide, faced a pre-trial hearing Wednesday morning.
The pre-trial was at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the 70th District Courtroom of Judge Denn Whalen. The accused, 34-year-old Rubin Francis Edwards III, was represented by Michael McLeaish, who told Whalen they were ready to go to trial. The prosecutors, John Shrode and Kortney Williams, also said they were ready, but no trial date has been set yet.
Motions had been made last December for a psychiatric examination, along with an intelligent quotient evaluation. Whalen gave the order for the psychiatric examination last week, to be conducted by Dr. Perry Marchioni.
McLeaish said that he is unsure at the moment if he is going to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
“The state alleges that it was self-inflicted, and frankly, it may have been, I don’t know,” McLeaish said. “But as a result of the wound, he can’t remember the incident.”
In order to be legally competent, McLeaish said, a defendant has to be able to understand the charge, know what a lawyer and a judge are, and have the ability to aid and assist his attorney in the preparation of his defense. The reason for the examination is to assess whether Edwards possesses that ability.
Police were first called about the fatal shooting last August in the 1300 block of East 36th Street. Upon arrival, police found Edwards’ girlfriend, 31-year-old Lindsay Baldonado, dead, and Edwards was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, which investigators say was self-inflicted.
Edwards was taken to the hospital following the events, before being released in September and transported to the Ector County Detention Center.
Jail records show Edwards is still in jail with a $1,000,000 bond.
