Alleged shooter of Charlotte cop in Fort Mill to be tested for mental competency
A man accused of shooting a Charlotte police officer a year ago during an arrest in Fort Mill is undergoing testing to see if he is competent to stand trial or if he was insane at the time of the shooting, according to federal court documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Haynes has declined to comment on James William Lewis’ claims of mental illness or insanity, but Haynes has not objected to the mental testing. In court last month, Haynes called it “a miracle” that officer Shane Page or other officers were not killed in the ambush in January 2014.
The testing ordered by federal Judge Joseph Anderson will be crucial to see if Lewis, 32, who claimed to have been homeless for years, ever faces trial on charges of shooting Page, now a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer, in the pelvis, shoulder and abdomen. Authorities say Anderson was hiding at his girlfriend’s home to avoid being arrested by Page and other members of a fugitive apprehension team. Lewis was shot in the legs when officers returned fire.
Kirstie Barratt, 22, was sentenced last month to two years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to police about Lewis being inside the house.
Page left police work after recovering from his injuries. He has declined to comment.
Lewis has been in jail since his arrest in January. He was sent late last month to a federal prison in Butner, N.C., for “extensive psychological testing,” court documents show, which will last until at least Feb. 27. His lawyer, federal public defender Katherine Evatt, claims in court documents that Lewis is “suffering from a mental disease or defect” and might have been “insane” at the time of the shooting. Lewis allegedly had been treated for mental problems for at least a decade before the shooting, his lawyer said.
FBI agents allege that Lewis was hiding in a bedroom to elude capture on charges from the December 2013 armed robbery of a Pineville, N.C., restaurant. Barratt, the girlfriend, lied twice to officers both outside and inside the house by saying Lewis was not inside. Lewis allegedly shot Page when Page was searching a bedroom for Lewis.
Lewis and his court-appointed lawyer did not bring up his mental status in May when Lewis, a convicted felon who served prison time for car theft and drugs, pleaded guilty in federal court in Charlotte to robbing the restaurant. Lewis was not sentenced for that conviction in May because of the pending charges in the Page shooting. He is charged in both federal court and in state court in York County with Page’s shooting and is facing as much as life in prison. The charges include attempted murder and weapons charges.
This story was originally published January 2, 2015 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Alleged shooter of Charlotte cop in Fort Mill to be tested for mental competency."