Man accused of bludgeoning wife to death may not stand trial

<p>A man accused of bludgeoning his wife to death with a sledgehammer last year may be found mentally incompetent to stand trial.</p><p>The Newton County Superior Court on Tuesday ordered that defendant Vasile Chisniau Chorba, 51, be placed in a hospital for 90 days to be evaluated for his fitness for trial.</p><p>Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Ozburn signed an order that said Chorba, a Newton County man, is mentally incompetent, at least for a while, to stand trial.</p><p>Authorities say Chorba killed his 53-year-old wife Emilya with a sledgehammer on June 1, 2004. Investigators with the Newton County's Sheriff's Office said Chorba confessed to the crime and was charged with felony murder. But Chorba's attorney, Chief Assistant Public Defender Anthony Carter, filed a court order claiming that Chorba's jury trial should be waived because of mental incompetence resulting from a stroke.</p><p>If Chorba is still deemed incompetent to stand trial when the 90 days are up, he could be committed to a state mental facility, Carter and Ozburn told the Newton Citizen.</p><p>In the competency hearing Tuesday, a forensic psychiatrist from Georgia Regional Hospital testified that Chorba was incompetent.</p><p>"The sense that I got was that he was able to complete short, simple sentences," Alisa Smith said. "My opinion was he was not competent to stand trial."</p><p>Smith said Chorba's condition was unlikely to improve.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9aac)</p>