by SEAN KIMMONS
The court-appointed attorney for Buda murder suspect Mark David Simmons has asked a judge to review whether he is competent to stand trial, possibly laying the ground work for an insanity defense.
Simmons, 51, went on the run in April after he allegedly killed his business partner Steven Woefel and burned the body in the garage of the victim’s Buda home. In late June, Simmons was captured holed up in a Branson, Mo. motel following a lengthy standoff with police.
Simmons was extradited and has been held at the Hays County jail on a $300,000 bond since August. No trial date has been set but pre-trial motions are scheduled for Feb. 1 before 22nd District Judge Charles Ramsay.
In filings last month, lawyer Tamara Needles asked a state district court judge to have her client psychologically examined under the state’s code of criminal procedures. On the same day, Needles filed an affidavit in support of an insanity finding, which could be presented to jurors for consideration if the case goes to trial.
“Mr. Simmons has on several occasions mentioned that he has been stalked and harassed by the Federal Government,” Needles wrote. “In order to proceed in advising Mr. Simmons it appears that a competency review is prudent.”
District Attorney Sherri Tibbe would not comment on the filing, citing her office’s policy of not discussing pending criminal cases.
His mother, Wanda Simmons, has told reporters that her son was a paranoid schizophrenic not currently medicated. Days before the murder, Simmons traveled to his mother’s Rockport home and stole her car, the same one located by Branson police, authorities say.
Also last month, Simmons submitted a five-page handwritten letter addressed to District Judge Gary Steel in which the inmate claimed he was being mistreated at the Hays County jail since his incarceration began.
In the wide-ranging diatribe, Simmons describes a back condition that has been aggravated by frigid temperatures in the jail. Because of the disability – which he says has been treated with “25 to 29 major orthopedic surgeries” – Simmons wrote that he has to crawl around the cell to retrieve food and use the restroom.
“I have been denied food and drink for two days now. I have had to result to urinating in my former cup and tossing it into the shower,” Simmons wrote. “... I feel I am being punished for having a bad back.”
Elsewhere in his missive, Simmons alleges that Latino inmates are treated better than their white counterparts and says he has been denied access to the facility’s legal library, as state law requires.
“This total disregard for the law on the part of the Hays County jail is evidence of the way things are done here. I try to stand up for the basic rights so many souls have been suffered to afford me but without the officials and those in authority over them, the entire system can become corrupt,” Simmons wrote.
In May 1997, Simmons was arrested and received 10 years probation after College Station police uncovered his small arsenal of handguns, silencers and pipe bombs. He told police on the scene that he was a racist and didn’t like black people.
“Simmons spoke about how he was a racist and then about how the white race needed to start preparing for the war. Simmons stated the reason why he had the guns on him was because he was being prepared,” according to a police report uncovered in Brazos County court records.
Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler on Tuesday denied Simmon’s allegations and said the defendant, currently being housed in the jail’s infirmary with other inmates, is not being mistreated. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has investigated Simmons’ complaint file and found no substantiation for his claims, Cutler said.
“It was basically unfounded and they are not taking any action,” the sheriff said.
