Killer refuses to be transported to court for hearing

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Thursday, June 23, 2005 | 9:36 a.m.

A 21-year-old man who was convicted of murdering his pregnant sister and their grandparents, refused to be transported to court for a hearing Wednesday to determine whether a new mental competency hearing is required before he is sentenced.

A jury convicted Dante Pattison of using a Russian assault rifle in February 2001 to kill his sister, 32-year-old Carrie Adric-Pattison, and their grandparents, Yoshio Kato, 82, and Sally Kato, 75.

The same jury sentenced Pattison to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the three murders, but District Judge Lee Gates must still sentence Pattison for killing Adric-Pattison's unborn child.

Gates was originally scheduled to sentence Pattison on May 25, but it was postponed because Pattison's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Charles Cano, said Pattison believes "he's being recruited to play soccer for the United States national team, and he's never even played soccer before."

Cano said since then one doctor has evaluated Pattison and determined he is not competent to face sentencing. If another doctor determines Pattison is incompetent, Gates will most likely hold a hearing to determine whether or not Pattison should be sent to Lake's Crossing, the state's mental facility in Sparks.

"He's decomposed tremendously since the last time we were in court," Cano said. "It's gotten to the point, and I'm certainly not an expert, where he's entering into another psychosis."

At trial his attorneys said Pattison committed the killings because in his delusional state, family members were assassins attempting to kill him. His attorneys also said Pattison believed he was on a mission from God and was receiving signals from God during the weeks leading up to the killings.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo, however, stands by his stance at trial that Pattison was simply pretending he had a mental illness to avoid being prosecuted, and now he's faking it to avoid punishment.

"If anything the trial showed this is a highly intelligent defendant that is certainly capable of malingering," DiGiacomo said.

In response to DiGiacomo's comments, Cano said the "state really hasn't had any contact with Pattision for them to presuppose he's malingering."

"That (DiGiacomo's comments) is just posturing by the state to support their position and prosecution of this case," Cano said.

Gates is scheduled to rule on July 18 whether a competency hearing should be held for Pattison.

If a hearing is set, Gates would then have to determine if Pattison is competent for sentencing or should be sent to Lake's Crossing, the state's mental facility in Sparks.