LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Tuesday paused the prosecution of a woman charged with the attempted murder of Rihanna and more than a dozen other felonies and sent the case to a mental health court that will determine whether she is competent to stand trial. At a Los Angeles meeting held in a judge’s chambers, Deputy Public Defender Derek Dillman said he had doubts over the mental competence of his client, 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz of Orlando, Florida, court documents showed. Ortiz has pleaded not guilty to firing at the house of Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky and their children while all of them were home. Judge Shannon K. Cooley ordered psychiatric evaluations and temporarily transferred the case to a Hollywood mental health court that specializes in determining whether defendants can understand the proceedings and go through a trial.
“It is the ethical obligation of counsel and the court to ensure that Ms. Ortiz’s rights are protected, including being able to assist counsel in conducting a defense in a rational manner,” Dillman said in an email to The Associated Press.If she is found incompetent, she could be held indefinitely in a state hospital until she is able to face the charges. She is set to appear June 2 in the same courtroom where a judge recently found that a man accused of stalking Jennifer Aniston was incompetent to stand trial.
