Judge orders competency evaluation for man accused of torture
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article included incorrect information of how the victim was freed and who Aaron Schoenrock was allegedly looking for at the time of the stabbing. That information has been corrected.
St. Clair County Circuit Judge Daniel Damman ordered Aaron Schoenrock of Port Huron to undergo a mental health evaluation after his defense attorney said they would argue innocence by insanity.
Damman previously rejected a motion for a competency evaluation by the defense, but ordered the evaluation after hearing arguments from both sides. The evaluation will be conducted by the Center for Forensic Psychiatry run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Schoenrock, 42, was arrested in June after a woman said she was held captive by him and tortured over eight hours. She said she was threatened with a chainsaw, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to write a suicide note at gunpoint.
After the woman was released by Schoenrock, Schoenrock reportedly went to a residence looking for her boyfriend. The homeowner said Schoenrock stabbed him after he said he did not know where the boyfriend was.
Meggan Delisi, who took over Schoenrock's defense after his previous attorneys withdrew from the case, has said Schoenrock has reported hearing voices, and that he has been receiving mental health treatment since he was arrested.
Delisi also cited interactions between Schoenrock and his previous attorneys. David Goldstein's motion to withdraw from the case cited a breach of trust, but did not go into details after citing concern for Schoenrock's privacy.
The motion comes after Schoenrock allegedly tried to contact Jolynn Hirsch, his codefendant, by sending letters to his mother for her to forward to Hirsch.
Hirsch pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do bodily harm less than murder in October. As part of her plea agreement, Hirsch agreed to testify against Schoenrock if his case went to trial.
Court records state the letter reportedly written by Schoenrock addressed to Hirsch told her to claim the prosecution and police made her lie.
In a brief opposing the defense's motion for a competency evaluation, St. Clair County Prosecutor Joshua Sparling argued Schoenrock's lack of mental health diagnoses and his efforts to influence a witness show he understood the charges against him well enough to contribute to his own defense.
"What the defendant's actually attempting to do is to manipulate the system once again to buy more time," Sparling wrote in his brief.
Sparling also cited recorded jail conversations in which Schoenrock reportedly openly discussed witness statements as evidence he was mentally competent to contribute to his own defense. The brief states Schoenrock admitted to several offenses in these conversations, evidence that may be presented by the prosecution if the case goes to trial.
No timeline has been set for the competency evaluation. Schoenrock's trial has been set for 9 a.m. May 7.
Hirsch, who was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, had her sentencing rescheduled for June 17.
Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Judge orders competency evaluation for man accused of torture
