Ruling is in whether teen immigrant is competent for trial in St. Johns officer's death

The teen immigrant charged in the death of a St. Johns County sheriff's sergeant who collapsed and died after struggling to detain him has been ruled incompetent to proceed to trial.

Judge R. Lee Smith's ruling was filed with the St. Johns County clerk of court Friday. Several experts testified on Dec. 22 that Virgilio Aguilar Mendez cannot understand the charges he's up against and the potential punishment largely due to the limited Spanish and English that he speaks.

The 18-year-old is charged with aggravated manslaughter of an officer and resisting an officer with violence. He will have to undergo treatment and observation at an appropriate facility to determine if he has the capability to learn enough to go to trial.

His attorney Rosemarie Peoples had advised the judge that the Guatemalan-Maya Center could be of assistance. The ruling states it would be Volusia County jail-based treatment from SMA Healthcare and that the Guatemalan-Maya Center can assist.

This all started on the night of May 19 when Sgt. Michael Kunovich deemed him suspicious while outside the Super 8 motel parking lot on Florida 16 in St. Augustine, according to arrest documents. Aguilar Mendez (all initial reports misspelled his first name Vergilio) was sitting down eating but started to walk away when the officer approached in his patrol vehicle.

Kunovich, 52, began to question him, but Aguilar Mendez couldn't understand him or communicate well and repeated that he was sorry. That's when Kunovich decided to search him, and Aguilar Mendez resisted. Two other deputies arrived to assist in taking the 5-foot-4, 115-pound teen to the ground as Kunovich repeatedly stunned him with his taser, all seen on body-worn camera video.

Aguilar Mendez can be heard screaming for his family and is seen trying to gain control of the taser as the officers note in the video. Toward the end of the 6-minute scuffle, the deputies saw that their handcuffed suspect had a small folding knife and disarmed him.

Kunovich collapsed a short time later in medical distress and died at the hospital, the Sheriff's Office said.

Aguilar Mendez, who came here from Guatemala, was staying with other farmworkers at the hotel. He is being detained without bail, which is the subject of another hearing as yet to be decided.

Is Virgilio Aguilar Mendez competent to stand trial

During his Dec. 22 competency hearing, both forensic psychologist Dr. Yenys Castillo and neuropsychologist Dr. Yolanda Leon explained how difficult it is to communicate with him, largely because he speaks a very distinct language of Mam and even has trouble with Spanish.

Each said he mostly answers yes or uh huh to questions, even when it’s clear he doesn’t understand and can't articulate when asked to explain. He can put together some small, simple sentences, but "the syntax is all off," Leon said.

He particularly has trouble with numbers and dates, Castillo said.

“He couldn’t understand the difference between being guilty, pleading guilty or being found guilty, and those are very different concepts, he couldn’t understand that," she said. "He couldn’t understand what the potential penalties are or … the legal system.”

Can he be taught in time for his case to go to trial? Leon doesn't think he can be restored to competency but deserves the chance.

Forensic psychologist Dr. Roger Davis countered that Aguilar Mendez's level of understanding is debatable. He was living independently with friends and working, so that should account for him being able to adapt. Navigating what it took to get to the United States also showed what he could accomplish.

Assistant State Attorney K. Mark Johnson also noted none of the experts testified that Aguilar Mendez has any mental illness. He believes there is an ability to provide competency, and though there are complications with the language issue, interpreters are available.

What's next for Virgilio Aguilar Mendez

In addition to competency-based training at the Volusia County jail, the judge ordered Aguilar Mendez to receive prescribed psychiatric medications.

"Within 60 days or at any time the administrator or their designee from SMA determines defendant has regained competency to proceed, they shall file a report with the court pursuant to the applicable Florida Statutes and Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure," the ruling states.

National outcry about Aguilar Mendez's case

The case has received national attention due to the implications of possible racial profiling or harassment, excessive force and over-charging.

"The incident video clearly shows that the officer initiated contact with 18-year-old Aguilar Mendez unnecessarily accusatory and intimidatingly, not simply to gather information," said Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "It is unfortunate that the officer later died. Still, we must not place blame for that death on the young man who was himself a target of excessive force by police and swarming tactics by other officers who arrived on the scene."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Teen immigrant ruled incompetent for trial in St. Johns officer's death