Judge: Murder suspect mentally fit for trial
Stephen Schmidt charged with killing his estranged wife in Kehalani grocery store
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WAILUKU -- Murder suspect Stephen B. Schmidt sat impassively in a jury box Friday morning as 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen ruled him mentally fit to stand trial for allegedly killing his estranged wife at the Kehalani Foodland store on April 19, 2016.
Schmidt, 47, remains confined without bail at the Maui Community Correctional Center. His trial was scheduled for Feb. 26.
Bissen read into the record his ruling that maintained Schmidt has been feigning mental illness or defect to avoid prosecution for murder.
Schmidt has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder of 24-year-old Kehau Farias Schmidt. Witnesses saw Stephen Schmidt slit her throat while she was shopping at the Foodland store with a friend.
Farias Schmidt had obtained a court order for protection that prohibited Schmidt from contacting her before he confronted her in the store.
Schmidt also has pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder of bystanders who were stabbed and cut while attempting to help Farias Schmidt.
Near the end reading of his ruling Friday morning, Bissen said his decision was made easier by Schmidt's actions in court Dec. 15.
During a hearing that date to determine his mental fitness to stand trial, Schmidt began swearing and yelling when Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin described how -- after the fatal stabbing -- police pulled up at Schmidt's residence in Kahului and heard him confessing what he had done to his teenage daughter.
Bissen said Schmidt's actions in court were "focused, directed and purposeful" and not consistent with defense attorney Chris Dunn's description of him as being "vacant and flat in his affect" and "virtually nonresponsive."
At the Dec. 15 hearing, Dunn said Schmidt's demeanor had been consistent since he was arrested and when he underwent examinations by the three psychiatrists or psychologists. There are 200 to 300 pages of medical records dating back to 1995 documenting Schmidt's "significant psychiatric history," he said.
At the same hearing, Martin said the medical records don't support one doctor's opinion that Schmidt suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Schmidt had gone to Maui Memorial Medical Center multiple times to obtain OxyContin and to the homeless resource center to get pain medication, Martin said.
To determine whether Schmidt was mentally fit to stand trial, he was examined under a court order by three psychiatrists or psychologists. One determined Schmidt was unfit because of mental illness. Another reported strongly suspecting that Schmidt was malingering, or faking, while presenting himself as unfit. And a third also strongly suspected malingering but couldn't reach an opinion because Schmidt didn't cooperate with his examination.
Dunn had asked the court to order Schmidt to undergo further mental evaluation at the Hawaii State Hospital on Oahu.