Judge Reinstates Molestation Charges Against Doc Accused of Exaggerating Alzheimer's
A California judge has reinstated child molestation charges against an 80-year-old psychiatrist accused of exaggerating Alzheimer’s disease to avoid trial.
Judge John Grandsaert of San Mateo County concluded that William Ayres is competent for trial after a four-day hearing, report the San Mateo County Times and the San Mateo Daily Journal.
Grandsaert cited a report by a psychologist at Napa State Hospital, where Ayres was sent after the first trial ended in a hung jury and Ayres was found incompetent for retrial. The report said Ayres displayed mental and reasoning ability, including:
• Ayres helped a nurse spell “Alzheimer’s.”
• After a court hearing, he asked if he had the same room and went there on his own.
Defense lawyers argued the single report was contradicted by a dozen mental health professionals, including two doctors at Napa. They said dementia patients have good days and bad days, so it is possible Ayres was sometimes lucid.
