FARMINGTON — A domestic violence assault charge against a local woman was dismissed Jan. 9 after the court found she was not competent to stand trial.
The court also found that Megan D. White, 26, probably won’t be competent in the foreseeable future, based on forensic reports, according to the order signed by Active-Retired Justice Thomas Delahanty II.
The order dismissed the misdemeanor domestic violence charge and a misdemeanor charge of refusing to submit to arrest.
Delahanty also ordered the commissioner of Maine Department of Health and Human Services to start proceedings to determine whether White should be committed involuntarily for mental health treatment.
White was accused of hitting and scratching her domestic partner in September 2017 after an argument about a phone turned physical.
In November 2017, a clinical psychologist found that White has “significant cognitive limitations” connected to a developmental mental health disorder, according to the Jan. 9 order.
Criminal charges against White have been dismissed several times since 2015.
In 2014, she was accused of hurting a 5-year-old boy she was baby-sitting in Farmington by pulling him off a bed by his legs, bruising his face. The child also had been slapped, according to police at the time.
Justice William Stokes dismissed charges of felony assault and misdemeanor violation of conditions of release in the case because White was found not competent to stand trial, according to previous court documents.
Stokes also signed an order in 2015 for the commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to begin proceedings to determine whether White should be involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.
A psychological assessment was done, and at that time she did not meet the criteria for involuntary civil commitment, according to an account outlined in the order signed by Delahanty.
Other unrelated charges in 2015 and 2016, including aggravated assault and violation of conditions of release, also have been dismissed because White was found not competent to stand trial.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
