Psychologist deems Crawford County man mentally competent to stand trial on Jan. 6 charges

A Crawford County resident charged in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol is back on course for trial after the defense abandoned its challenge to his mental fitness.

The defendant, Jeremy J. Vorous, 46, of Venango, recently underwent a psychological exam that found his "mental health condition did not render him incompetent to stand trial," his assistant federal public defender said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The lawyer in the motion asked to withdraw his request for a competency hearing in light of the psychological exam's results. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras granted the withdrawal after a status conference on Thursday, according to court records.

The psychological exam delayed Vorous' trial, which had been scheduled to start Sept. 24. Contreras did not set a trial date on Thursday. He fixed Dec. 3 as the deadline for pretrial filings.

Contreras in August ordered Vorous to undergo the psychological exam . He ruled after Vorous' lawyer said Vorous' behavior at a July meeting led the defense to believe he is "suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to assist properly in his own defense despite the best efforts of counsel to assist him," according to a defense motion. It offered no details.

Vorous is last from northwest Pa. to be tried in riots

Vorous is one of four defendants from northwestern Pennsylvania indicted in the Jan. 6 attack. The three others — one from Meadville in Crawford County and two from McKean County — have been sentenced.

Vorous has pleaded not guilty and remains free on his own recognizance.

He faces 11 counts. Among them is that he assaulted police officers three times, including with a bike rack and wooden sign, during the storming of the Capitol in support of then-President Donald Trump.

Vorous was also initially charged with obstruction of an official proceeding — the joint session of Congress that convened on Jan. 6, 2021, to certify the Electoral College vote in the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won.

Contreras on Sept. 6 dismissed that charge at the defense's request. The defense cited the U.S. Supreme Court's June 28 ruling in the case of Fischer v. United States. The decision narrowed the government's ability to prosecute Jan. 6 defendants for obstruction.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Psychologist deems Crawford County man mentally competent to stand trial on Jan. 6 charges