Judge plans to take up question of whether John Legg is competent to stand trial

MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. ( WHNT ) — A Morgan County judge will take up the question of whether the second defendant in the 2020 killings of seven people is competent to stand trial.

John Legg is due in court on Dec. 9. Morgan County Circuit Judge Stephen Brown said in an order Wednesday he plans “to take up the Defendant’s previous request for a jury trial as to the issue of competency in this case.”

Legg’s co-defendant, Frederic Rogers, was found guilty in August on the same capital murder charges Legg is facing. Rogers was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Judge Brown’s order said the December hearing would include the scheduling of “any such trial” on competency.  A competency trial would be distinct from the actual criminal case. It would ask a judge or jury to decide if Legg is capable of standing trial.

From the outset, Legg’s attorneys have argued he suffers from severe mental illness, has been hospitalized on multiple occasions for treatment and is not competent to stand trial. The defense requested state doctors provide a mental health evaluation of Legg.

But court records show the state’s doctors found Legg was competent to stand trial.

Competency focuses on two questions: Is the defendant capable of understanding the case against him and the ongoing proceedings? And, is he able to assist with his defense?

Rogers spoke to investigators after he and Legg were arrested in Oregon, nearly three weeks after the killings. At his trial, prosecutors showed the police interviews where Rogers said he and Legg killed seven people they knew at a home in Valheromoso Springs.

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Legg has not spoken to investigators.

The victims in the case are, William Zane Hodgin, 18; Jeramy Roberts, 31; James Benford, 22; Roger Jones Jr., 19; Emily Payne, 21; Tammy England Muzzey, 45; and Dakota Green, 17.

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