The man accused in the 2019 Harrah’s Joliet brutal slaying will stand trial for the Illinois hotel-casino stabbing even though there was conflicting expert testimony on Robert A. Watson’s mental competency.
Patch reported Dr. Anna Stapleton, a forensic psychologist who testified for prosecutors, claimed earlier this month Watson, 27, a transient, pretended to suffer from mental illness. A defense psychiatrist, Dr. Monica Argumedo, countered Watson suffered from psychotic episodes and was delusional, conditions that prevent him from assisting his defense attorneys, Patch said.
Earlier this month, a six-member Illinois jury concluded Watson was fit to stand trial on the first-degree murder case. Authorities allege Watson stabbed Emanuel Burgarino, 76, of Hales Corners, Wisconsin, 26 times in the neck and chest while on the fifth floor of the casino hotel during a robbery.
When asked for comment, Christopher Slobogin, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, where he directs the Criminal Justice Program, told Casino.org it is only “a small percentage of cases, especially homicide cases,” where “hearings involving a battle of the experts occur.”
Stephen J. Morse, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is associate director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society, further told Casino.org that “The Supreme Court of the United States has held that a person may not be tried for a crime unless he or she is reasonably capable of understanding the legal process and of rationally communicating with the attorney about the facts of the case.”
“The Supreme Court has made clear that a defendant who is incompetent to stand trial may not be tried,” Morse added. “Whether justice is done depends on the facts of each case and the procedures the state uses to restore competence. Hospitalization to restore competence should not be an alternative to conviction and punishment.”
Watson Claims Jail Guards Spit in Food
In her recent court testimony, Dr. Argumedo recounted how Watson revealed to her last December that guards at the Will County Adult Detention Center were spitting in and placing semen in his food, Patch reported.
“He was pretty delusional,” Argumedo testified, Patch said. “He thought he was being persecuted by the guards. He believes his food is tainted by looking at it. That’s why he won’t eat it.
“He only buys Honey Buns,” she further testified. “He has delusions about being poisoned.”
Dr. Argumedu concluded Watson has schizophrenia and is delusional. “Mr. Watson is unfit to stand trial … he is unable to really understand these charges and work with his attorney,” Argumedu has testified.
Christopher Slobogin explained the legal issue is usually called “competency to stand trial,” to “distinguish it from insanity at the time of the offense. People can be insane but competent, and vice versa, given the time gap between the alleged crime and trial, and the somewhat different standards involved,” Slobogin explained.
Competency Hearing in Case Considered Unusual
Watson’s hearing was seen as unusual because in the “vast majority of cases, the competence issue is decided by the judge on the basis of reports from mental health professionals. Often the parties agree that the person is competent or incompetent,” Slobogin said.
Slobogin added that a judge or jury “is often skeptical of claims of incompetence, but presumably carefully listens to the evidence and makes a decision based on it.”
Watson has a criminal history for burglary, robbery, and aggravated robbery in several states. Watson currently is being held on $5 million bond, according to Will County sheriff’s records.
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