McKINNEY, Texas -- A judge promised to rule Monday whether to resume the ax-murder trial of Candace Montgomery, who a psychiatrist reportedly has determined is mentally competent to face charges of killing a school teacher.
Mrs. Montgomery, charged with slaying her friend Betty Gore during a June 13 argument over a love affair with Mrs. Gore's husband, passed a mental examination administered Saturday by psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Thorton, the Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.
The test determined that Mrs. Montgomery is mentally competent to stand trial, the newspaper said. Judge Tom Ryan was quoted as saying he was unsure if a second psychiatric examination would be requested.
Lawyers in the case are under a gag rule imposed by the judge and would make no comment on the report. Thorton was unavailable for comment.
Ryan ordered the admitted adultress to undergo additional psychiatric testing Friday as testimony ended. A hearing was called Monday before the trial resumes.
The judge also ordered defense lawyer Don Crowder jailed for 72 hours for contempt of court because of a verbal exchange in which Crowder accused Ryan of interferring in testimony. The order was appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Crowder was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Mrs. Montgomery, 30, is charged with slashing Mrs. Gore 41 times with an ax in the victim's home. The defendant, who is claiming self-defense, says the two struggled after Mrs. Montgomery acknowledged the affair with Mrs. Gore's husband, Alan.
The defendant's husband, Pat Montgomery, told the jury in the packed north Texas courtroom Friday that he had accepted his wife's affair and the couple had gotten through the crisis.
Mrs. Montgomery's personal psychiatrist, Dr. Maurice Green, testified Friday his patient was still suffering from 'disassociative reaction,' the feeling that she wasn't really involved in the slaying.
'She saw things in slow-motion,' the doctor said. 'She remembers them being dreamlike, almost as if she were a spectator.'
Mrs. Montgomery admitted having an affair with Mrs. Gore's husband but said that affair ended 10 months earlier. She also said she had a second affair shortly after the first one ended that lasted about one month, but she and her husband had talked it out and reconciled.
