More psychiatric tests ordered for Lewis stalker

Kim Smith

Tuesday, June 19, 2001 | 10:29 a.m.

The trial of a diagnosed schizophrenic previously convicted of stalking comedian Jerry Lewis was postponed Monday after further psychiatric tests were ordered.

Gary Benson is accused of continually harassing Lewis. District Judge Michael Cherry said he has doubts as to whether Benson, 58, is mentally competent to stand trial. He rescheduled Benson's trial for Nov. 12.

Benson was arrested in May 2000 in Wyoming after Lewis reportedly received a letter at his Las Vegas home on April 11, 2000, that read, 'Dear Jerry, Your Dead.' The letter was signed, 'Your friend, Gary Benson.' "

Chief Deputy District Attorney Abbi Silver believes the letter violates an extended protective order issued by Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti after Benson was released on earlier stalking charges.

Silver hopes to show that Benson is a habitual criminal and, if successful, Benson could receive a life sentence.

During a hearing Monday, Silver said the issue isn't whether Benson wrote and sent the letter. Instead, it is whether Benson "willfully and intentionally" violated the judge's protective order.

Silver asked Cherry to postpone Benson's trial so she could have a psychologist or psychiatrist evaluate Benson's mental status at the time he wrote the letter.

Silver said she suspects deputy public defenders Amy Dreyfus and Howard Brooks will argue that since Benson was in a psychiatric institute at the time he wrote the letters, he couldn't form the intent to break the law.

Dreyfus objected to further testing of her client, but Cherry said he is not only worried about Benson's competency at the time the letter was written, but his competency now.

"He never says anything and he has that far away look," Cherry said.

Dreyfus told Cherry she believes her client is competent -- that he does understand the charges he faces and is able to assist in his own defense.

The trial's postponement is the latest development in a case that began more than a decade ago.

In 1989 Lewis gave his then-housekeeper a copy of Benson's lengthy police record after she told Lewis that she planned to marry Benson. She then told Benson about the report, and he began making harassing phone calls to Lewis' home and office.

Benson was arrested in February 1994, and he pleaded guilty to aggravated stalking in May 1995 and was placed on probation with the understanding that if he did not undergo mental health treatment, he could end up in prison for six years.

Benson reportedly continued to harass Lewis and spent the next three years in and out of jail and mental health facilities.

In July 1998 Benson's probation was revoked, and he was sent to prison. He was released in September 1999 and warned by Togliatti to stay away from Lewis.

After Lewis received the letter, the FBI arrested Benson in a Sheridan County, Wyo., Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.

Silver noted during Monday's hearing that Benson was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1963. His last competency evaluation was last summer.