Third doctor called on to examine Milko’s competence to stand trial

Bill Gang

Tuesday, July 20, 1999 | 10:04 a.m.

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle has ordered a third psychiatric examination for perennial political candidate Hilary Michael Milko after two psychiatrists differed in evaluations of his competence to be sentenced in one case and stand trial in another.

Reports submitted to the judge indicated that one psychiatrist determined Milko is mentally incompetent while the other concluded Milko is just feigning incompetence.

Milko, 42, is awaiting sentencing on his conviction for going into his ex-girlfriend's North Las Vegas home and taking their then-3-year-old son. He faces trial on additional charges of burglary and home invasion.

His attorney, Alzora Jackson, has said she believes Milko is mentally incompetent to face a jury.

The case will return to Hardcastle's courtroom on July 29 for the tie-breaking decision.

Jackson has told the judge Milko "is unable to discuss his case in a rational manner and has delusions of activities in the Clark County Detention Center," including a belief that attempts are being made to kill him with poison smuggled into jail inside pens.

"This is indicative that he has lost all touch with reality," Jackson said.

Milko is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 2 for his conviction for violating custody rights in the June 1998 child snatching case. In that trial, Milko was also convicted of burglary but acquitted of kidnapping charges.

In the second case, Milko is alleged to have broken into his ex-wife's home and stolen a computer in broad daylight in front of neighbors.

Milko has been in jail since the middle of his first trial after Hardcastle determined he had made improper statements about trial witnesses in the presence of jurors in a courtroom hallway.

Milko, who has run for U.S. president, Congress, Nevada governor and Las Vegas mayor, faces the possibility of six to 15 years in prison for his felony convictions.