Hearing for Golden Gate shooter postponed

Sun Staff

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

A preliminary hearing for a man charged in the fatal shooting of a Golden Gate casino blackjack dealer has been postponed pending a second competency evaluation.

One mental health expert has already declared Larry Taylor not competent to stand trial.

A deputy public defender sought Monday to have a second court-appointed expert examine the defendant, who is charged in the Nov. 10 shooting death of his former girlfriend, Gloria Cohns.

If the second expert also concludes Taylor is not competent, Taylor could be sent to a state facility in Sparks for mentally ill offenders. He would remain there for treatment until doctors determine he is capable of standing trial.

A status hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10.

Taylor, 37, is charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting of the 37-year-old Cohns.

Witnesses said a man shot Cohns, a mother of three, while she was working as a blackjack dealer at the casino, which was full of customers and employees at the time of the shooting.