FORT WORTH -- A Tarrant County jury decided that Collette Reyes is mentally competent to stand trial on charges that she gunned down her estranged husband, a popular professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Reyes, 54, who has a history of mental illness, is charged with murdering Arthur Alexander Reyes, 45, at their home in the 1800 block of Lakeside Drive in Arlington on Nov. 22, 2009. Officers responding to a 911 call found her husband's body lying in the garage.The murder trial is set for April 15."I think the jury looked at the evidence and came to the only conclusion possible," said prosecutor Sean Colston. "She was faking her illness to elude justice."Over the past few days, jurors have heard evidence questioning Collette Reyes' mental competency.Mental health professionals at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon initially determined that Reyes was incompetent to stand trial, according to testimony at her competency hearing this week.After she received treatment for her condition and the hospital staff determined that she was competent to stand trial, Reyes was released and placed in outpatient care, witnesses said.But Reyes' attorney, Wes Ball, argued that Reyes has regressed since her release and is once again incompetent to stand trial.Prosecutors for Tarrant County were convinced that Reyes is competent to stand trial and able to help Ball try her case.One staff member testified that Collette Reyes had schizoid-affective disorder and is not competent to stand trial.But Antoinette McGarrahan, another mental health professional who evaluated Reyes, said the defendant was lying about her mental illness and is competent to stand trial, Ball said."We have opposing views," Ball told the jury. "You need to sort this out."Colston told the jury that McGarrahan conducted the most thorough examination of Reyes. Reyes fooled at least six other mental health professionals, he said, adding that the defendant, a woman who obtained a chemical engineering degree from Polytechnic University of New York, is good at fooling people.After her release from North Texas State Hospital and a declaration that she is competent to stand trial, Reyes arrived at Tarrant County Jail and could not remember her name, could not tell where she is or why she is there, Colston said."She has to go to the probation department and she's perfectly fine," Colston said during his closing arguments. "She can ask to go to Oklahoma with her church. She can relate to the probation department that she's compliant with the conditions of her bond."Yet, when she talks to another mental health professional who can have a bearing on her case, "she's a raving lunatic," Colston said.But Reyes is not that good a liar, Ball said."It's not a requirement that someone be curled up in the fetal position with drool running down the side of her face for them to be found incompetent," Ball said.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
