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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Toledo man arrested after a bizarre series of events that left employees at a Centralia motel hiding and ended in a fight with police officers inside the nearby sandwich shop remains jailed as his lawyer makes plans to delve into his mental state.
Defense attorney Shane O’Rourke described the situation on Alder Street the morning of May 26 as a sort of manic scenario.
“All the witnesses indicated he thought something was happening that was not happening,” O’Rourke said.
Mitchell K. Davis, 27, was a gunner on active duty in Iraq in 2009 who had significant combat and had significant issues afterwards, O’Rourke said.
“We believe he had been brought by Toledo police to Providence Centralia Hospital who dropped him off there,” he said. “I believe he was discharged within a matter of hours before this.”
Officers were called about 11:15 a.m. that day to the Peppermill Inn having been told Davis grabbed an employee, pushed her to the floor and took her phone, according to police. As police arrived, they got a call from a man at the Shell station next door – where Davis allegedly took his phone – and were directed to the Subway shop, according to a police account.
Police said he was hiding in the bathroom, and as he dashed out, knocked a worker to the ground. Davis was subdued with a Taser, but during a struggle, reportedly struck one officer in the face.
Davis yesterday pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
He remains in the Lewis County Jail, and O’Rourke is preparing for an extensive evaluation of his client.
The Centralia defense attorney said he expected within the next couple of days he would seek authorization from a judge to engage an expert psychiatrist.
Davis is charged with two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of third-degree assault, two counts of fourth-degree assault, malicious mischief and possession of methamphetamine. His trial is on the Lewis County Superior Court calendar for July 20.
Getting acquitted by reason of insanity can be a long and complex process, according to O’Rourke.
It’s different, in that the defendant acknowledges the acts, but, then a judge or jury has to find one of two things are true, he said.
“A, I did not understand what I was doing because of some kind of mental defect or delusion,” O’Rourke said. “Or B, because of my mental state, I had no ability to appreciate right from wrong.”
It’s a difficult standard to meet, he said.
If it happens, the case then shifts into determining what to do next with the person, he said.
“If it’s a bad enough crime, you’re probably going to be committed the rest of your life, he said.
O’Rourke said one of the allegations is police found a residual amount of methamphetamine, so an issue he expects to come up is an allegation of intoxication.
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – POLICE: ‘SPUN UP OUT OF HIS MIND’ ” from Wednesday May 27, 2015, here [2]