A March 14 trial is scheduled to determine whether a man accused of intentionally hitting three bicyclists with a vehicle last summer is mentally competent to be tried on criminal charges.
The attorney for Alamar Cyril Houston says her client is unable to understand the nature of his court proceeds and cannot assist with his defense, but prosecutors suspect he may be faking a mental illness in order to avoid the criminal proceedings.
The competency trial is expected to last several days in Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg’s courtroom.
Houston, 38, faces three counts of premeditated attempted murder and a host of other charges in connection with the June 30 incident on South River Road near Clarksburg, where he allegedly hit the cyclists — two of them 17-year-old boys — while driving a stolen vehicle. Both teens suffered major injuries.
He was arrested after leading police on a pursuit from West Sacramento to Sacramento.