Ford must go to mental hospital

By Matt Pordum

Friday, Jan. 14, 2005 | 8:47 a.m.

Doctors have determined that a former NFL player accused of shooting at the home of entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn is not mentally competent to stand trial.

District Judge Jackie Glass ordered 31-year-old Cole Ford to be taken to Lake's Crossing, the state mental hospital in Sparks.

Ford, standing in chains with long hair and bushy beard, asked Glass "What's holding me up from pleading?" as he explained he was competent.

"I want all my words documented on paper so you can show me why I'm not competent," Ford said. "I'm perfectly competent."

Glass explained that the two doctors who administered psychological evaluations on Ford said, "You don't understand what's actually happening in these proceedings."

Ford then asked if it was "possible to be evaluated outside of the state of Nevada" because he didn't "fit into this gambling" culture.

He said he wanted to plead guilty to the charges, but the judge told Ford he couldn't do so until he goes to Lake's Crossing, takes medication and doctors determine he is competent.

Ford began talking over Glass, saying several times, "I don't take medication."

He is charged with six counts of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon for the incident in which no one was harmed.

He could face up to 27 years in prison if convicted of all charges. He has been in the Clark County jail since his Nov. 2 arrest.

Family members in Tucson have said Ford started showing signs of schizophrenia after he left the Raiders and grew more reclusive until they lost contact with him in 1999. A civil suit filed by Ford against the Monte Carlo hotel on Jan. 28 is one reason why people are questioning his mental state.

In that lawsuit, Ford was seeking $5 million from the Monte Carlo because, he wrote, by allowing people to place bets on the football teams for which he played in the 1990s the casino "acquired leverage from my works."

District Judge Valerie Adair dismissed the suit.