AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine judge is considering a request that a man accused of killing his father be involuntarily medicated to restore his competency to stand trial.
The request is the subject of a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta on Wednesday. Prosecutors want Leroy Smith III to take medication in hopes he can become competent to stand trial.
Smith, of Gardiner, is charged in the 2014 killing of Leroy Smith Jr. inside an apartment they shared. Smith was declared incompetent to stand trial after he was diagnosed with acute delusional thinking.
Smith's attorney Scott Hess has opposed the state's request for forcible medication. Maine is using the case to seek its first use of a new law prosecutors say allows for the involuntary administration of psychiatric medication.