Competency hearing ordered for felonious assault suspect
A pretrial hearing for a local man accused of assaulting a woman while holding her against her will earlier this year has been continued after Guernsey County Common Pleas Court Judge Daniel Padden granted a request for a competency evaluation.
The pretrial for Kevin D. Dingus, 34, was scheduled for Friday, but continued when Zanesville attorney Matthew Mollica filed a not guilty by reason of insanity plea on behalf of his client.
A two-day jury trial scheduled to begin Dec. 7 was also continued.
Dingus faces one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, for the alleged attack on Sept. 12 that left the victim hospitalized.
It is the second competency evaluation a court has ordered for Dingus this year.
Earlier this year, he was found incompetent to stand trial in connection with an unrelated case charging him with grand theft of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, and vandalism, a fifth-degree felony.
He was accused of stealing a truck from a Cambridge school and vandalizing a dentist office on Wheeling Avenue in the city.
Dr. Jaime Adkins with Forensic Diagnostic Center of District 9 determined Dingus could not be restored to competency within the time prescribed by Ohio law. He was ordered to be confined at Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare.
Jurisdiction of Dingus was later transferred to the Guernsey County Probate Court and the criminal case was dismissed on July 9.
A Guernsey County sheriff's detective said the victim suffered fractured ribs during the incident.
A misdemeanor assault charge was filed against Dingus on Sept. 17 in the Cambridge Municipal Court. Dingus plead not guilty and bond was set at $10,000 with no 10% allowed.
A motion for a mental health evaluation at that time resulted in Dingus also being placed under pretrial supervision.
The misdemeanor charge was dismissed on Sept. 28 after a felonious assault charge was filed in the municipal court. Bond was modified to $100,000 with no 10% allowed and Dingus again plead not guilty to the charge.
The felonious assault charge was dismissed by the Guernsey County Prosecuting Attorney's Office the same day the case was presented to the grand jury.
During an arraignment hearing in the common pleas court, bond for Dingus was lowered to $25,000 with no 10% allowed and a personal recognizance bond.
The insanity plea was filed by Mollica on Nov. 2.
The latest competency evaluation will also be completed by Forensic Diagnostic Center District Nine Inc.
Dingus remains incarcerated in the Guernsey County Jail.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Competency hearing ordered for felonious assault suspect
