A gay man, who was convicted of slashing the face of his former boyfriend, was committed to a state mental hospital January 12. A judge determined the man was not mentally competent to be sentenced.
Amier Rocky Issa, 33, of La Jolla, will be transferred from a jail here to Patton State Hospital where he will be housed and receive psychiatric medication. San Diego Superior Court Judge Frederick Maguire wrote that Issa lacks the capacity to decide whether to take certain medications which are needed for his recovery.
Issa was convicted Oct. 6, 2010, of assault with a deadly weapon upon Michael Serrato, 29, a Hillcrest waiter who received a 5-inch slash from a knife across his face. Around 6:20 pm on July 11, 2008, when Serrato was walking home from work, Issa committed the crime. Serrato went to a hospital and received 20 stitches on his face, as well as eight stitches on the inside of his mouth.
Issa had been free on $20,000 bond, but he didn’t show up to hear the jury’s verdict in October and was a fugitive. He was arrested at the MGM Hotel in Las Vegas on Oct. 14, and extradited to San Diego. His attorney argued that he was mentally incompetent to be sentenced, and the judge agreed.
After Issa is stabilized on medication, it is likely he will be returned to San Diego for sentencing and he faces four years in prison. He may be eligible for probation since he doesn’t have any prior criminal record, but Issa’s flight out of state prior to the jury verdict makes probation unlikely.
Issa and Serrato were dating for 11 months before their relationship ended. Serrato testified Issa had been stalking him, phoning him repeatedly and hanging up in the days before the assault. Issa testified he may have accidently cut Serrato with sharp objects he found in his pocket, but denied using a knife.
Issa has been at Patton State Hospital before. He was committed in April 2010, after a judge determined he was not mentally competent to stand trial. About three months later, doctors found Issa had regained his mental competency and he was returned to San Diego.
Awesome and very interesting! Good for you 🙂