Gonzalez
A 25-year-old who was charged with murder following the shooting at Ale Emporium was given clearance to undergo a competency evaluation.
Marco Antonio Gonzalez, 25, of Greenwood, is charged with murder for the March 8 death of Timothy A. Sannito, 52, of Indianapolis, outside Ale Emporium, 997 E. County Line Road. Sannito was shot twice and found unresponsive in the restaurant’s parking lot. He was later taken to Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis where he died, officials said.
On Monday, Johnson County Superior Court 3 Judge Douglas Cummins approved a motion by Gonzalez’s lawyer, Kathie Perry of Baldwin Perry & Wiley, P.C., requesting that Gonzalez undergo a competency evaluation. Perry had first filed the motion on July 24, according to online court records.
Perry declined to comment on the motion or the case for this story.
Whenever a defendant moves for a competency evaluation in a criminal case, the court appoints two or three competent and disinterested physicians or psychologists to conduct an evaluation of a defendant to determine whether the defendant lacks the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in the preparation of a defense, said Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner.
If a defendant is determined to be incompetent to stand trial, the defendant is ordered to a state hospital to restore their competency. If it’s restored, they are sent back to the courts to stand trial, Hamner said.
“The hearing would have no impact on the case proceeding if the defendant is found to be competent. Should (Gonzalez) be found incompetent, the delay would be indefinite,” he said.
The competency evaluation motion comes nearly four months after Perry notified the court of her intent to file a notice of an insanity defense on April 20. In the filing, Perry wrote that she has reason to believe that after further review of the case and a “thorough evaluation” of Gonzalez, a notice of insanity will ultimately be filed. However, because of the seriousness of filing the official notice of an insanity defense, and the statutory requirements that are triggered upon filing, Gonzalez’s attorney believed it was necessary to obtain more information before filing the official notice.
After Gonzalez was arrested by Greenwood police, he initially gave investigators vague answers and declined to answer questions. Eventually, detectives asked him if he was aware he was being charged with murder, and he replied “uh yeah,” a probable cause affidavit shows.
Gonzalez was asked how he felt about being charged with murder, and Gonzalez reportedly replied that “maybe it’s not murder” and questioned whether the charge would “stick,” suggesting it should be manslaughter instead, court documents say.
He told police he should be charged with manslaughter because it wasn’t premeditated and he didn’t know Sannito. Gonzalez also said he was “not really” being threatened by anyone or afraid of anything at the time of the shooting, the affidavit says.
While being transported to the Johnson County jail, Gonzalez asked an officer if they had killed someone before. The officer said yes, saying he served in the military and was involved in a police-action shooting. After some silence, Gonzalez reportedly said, “I should have joined the military, at least then I could have murdered someone and gotten away with it,” court documents say.
Gonzalez’s next court hearing is set for Sept. 7.
