Second Hearing for Whitney's Competency

by Ben Hogwood

The competency hearing of an accused murderer will be reopened, despite
both the state and the defense agreeing the man is competent to stand
trial, pending a decision from the Vermont Supreme Court on whether the
competency evaluation should be made public.
Edgar Whitney, 33, has been charged with the May 26 murder of his wife,
Jodie. Whitney was arraigned on June 7 and as he had attempted suicide
before his arrest, Judge Edward Cashman ordered an evaluation of his
sanity and competency to stand trial.
A competency hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, July 7, but as both
State's Attorney Joel Page and Whitney's defense attorney Marc Eagle
agreed Whitney was competent, a formal hearing was never held. "There
was no testimony presented and no evidentiary exhibits offered for
admission," stated Eagle in court papers. As Whitney's evaluation,
conducted by Dr. Jonathan Weker, had not been admitted into evidence,
Eagle asked the judge that the evaluation be sealed from the public.
Two newspapers, the Stowe Reporter and The Burlington Free Press, argued
through an attorney that the document should be made public. Eagle
appealed the issue to the Vermont Supreme Court and the evaluation has
been sealed pending that decision.
Robert Hemley, representing the newspapers, stated in a motion that as
the competency report was used by the state and the defense in the
decision to find Whitney competent to stand trial, the document should
be considered evidence and thus revealed to the public.
Eagle, in a motion to appeal the judge's initial decision to release the
report, stated, "The authorization for release violates Mr. Whitney's
privacy rights and prospectively impacts other defendants' candid
participation in court-initiated competency evaluations." He continued
that if this report is released, other defendants in similar situations
will need to be advised that what they reveal could be disclosed,
compromising the psychiatric review.
State's Attorney Page made a motion to reopen the competency proceedings
as a result of the questions surrounding the competency report. While
Page did not change his position on the competency of Whitney, he stated
in the motion that a reviewing court could question the legality of the
competency determination post-conviction. "These issues can readily be
disposed of now by simply reopening the competency hearing and "taking
evidence" in a more formal manner, so that the record supporting the
finding of competency is absolutely clear," he stated.
A date for the new competency hearing has not yet been set. Court
officials expect the Vermont Supreme Court to make a decision on whether
the competency evaluation should be open to the public in the coming days.
According to a police affidavit, Whitney admittedly murdered his wife on
Wednesday, May 26 after she had threatened to separate from him. Whitney
allegedly strangled Jodie, then disposed of the body is a Johnson marsh.
He left her car and walked home. On Wednesday, June 2, Whitney allegedly
took approximately 150 Tylenol PM pills, in a suicide attempt, and
confessed the crime to his bother, Ernest. Whitney was transported to
Fletcher Allen Health Care. Upon recovering from the overdose, he
allegedly made a confession to police.