‘Doctor’s report’ still pending for Bay Area woman accused of killing cop during DUI crash
A Solano County Superior Court judge on Tuesday again rescheduled a mental competency report for the woman accused of the July DUI-related killing of Vacaville Police Officer Matthew Bowen.
Seated at the defense table, Serena CJ Rodriguez was previously scheduled to be interviewed by Andrea Shelley, a clinical and forensic psychologist in San Francisco, ordered to compile a “1368 doctor’s report” about whether the 24-year-old Auburn resident was competent to stand trial.
But as the morning proceeding got underway, Judge Wendy Getty noted that Shelley did not “make an extra effort” to interview Rodriguez and, thus, did not file a report.
At one point, while seated next to Chief Deputy Public Defender Oscar Bobrow, Rodriguez, when questioned briefly by the judge, began to talk excitedly, and several times, becoming increasingly agitated, interrupted Getty.
Unwilling to stop talking, Getty then ordered Rodriguez, shackled at the waist, to be removed from the courtroom and placed in a holding area just off the courtroom, a room with a window and microphone so Rodriguez could see and hear the proceedings but not disrupt it.
But Rodriguez continued to rant at times, often loudly, and did not stop during the 15-minute morning proceeding, which was attended by some two dozen Vacaville police officers, including Chief Ian Schumtzler and relatives of Matthew Bowen, the officer Rodriguez is charged with killing while he was making a roadside traffic stop.
Then speaking with Chief Deputy District Attorney Paul Sequeira, who leads the prosecution, and Bobrow, Getty said she would re-refer Shelley to interview Rodriguez.
Sequeira said Shelley “can’t hold us hostage” and unreasonably delay the proceedings. Getty agreed and proposed “a dual process,” so least one competency report can be obtained.
Getty also appointed Sacramento-based psychologist Janice Nakagawa to examine the defendant and prepare a report, which gets its namesake from Penal Code section 1368. The judge then set the report’s release and findings for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 21. The judge also ordered additional funding for Shelley’s second proposed interview.
Based on the report’s findings, a judge can reinstate proceedings or order the defendant be confined to a jail-based competency program or housed in one of five state hospitals until competency is restored.
Under the law, a defendant who is found to be mentally incompetent, unable to help in his or her defense, cannot be tried. Once determined to be competent, however, the defendant can face more legal proceedings, including a jury trial.
In the meantime, proceedings remain suspended against Rodriguez, who remains without bail in Solano County Jail in Fairfield.
As previously reported, Getty on Aug. 15 received a letter from Shelley, informing the court that Rodriguez did not attend a previously scheduled online interview to determine her mental competency to stand trial.
Official court records did not indicate why Rodriguez missed her appointment with Shelley.
During a scheduled July 22 arraignment hearing in Department 1, Rodriguez, shackled and clad in a jail jumpsuit, her head newly shorn, sat at the defense table, her back to the public gallery. It was filled to standing-room-only capacity with dozens of Vacaville police officers, other department employees, Sheriff deputies, Bowen’s relatives, and District Attorney Krishna Abrams.
Chief Deputy Public Defender Dan Messner then appeared to tell Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman that his client denied all allegations and enhancements. Rodriguez, however, began to interrupt him, asking for private attorney-client conference. The judge allowed it, and Rodriguez and Messner left the courtroom for an adjacent smaller room. Kauffman returned to his chambers.
Nearly a half-hour later, Kauffman called Messner and Sequeira into his chambers for a discussion about a “Marsden hearing” — a defendant’s motion to fire a court-appointed attorney, claiming the attorney is providing ineffective help or the attorney has a conflict with the defendant.
The judge cleared the courtroom to hear Rodriguez’s claim.
At about 2:30 p.m. everyone returned to the courtroom, and Kauffman denied Rodriguez’s request for substituting a new attorney. Messner asked that criminal proceedings be suspended until the “doctor’s report” is completed.
Rodriguez’s July 22 hearing came one day before Bowen’s memorial service at The Father’s House in Vacaville.
The criminal complaint, filed July 15, indicated Rodriguez, who is 5 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds, is charged with first-degree murder.
Additionally, under the murder charge, Rodriguez faces three enhancements: the killing of a police officer engaged in the performance of his duties; a special allegation of using a deadly weapon, her vehicle; and using a deadly or dangerous weapon, a motor vehicle.
Bowen, 32, was struck shortly before 11 a.m. July 11, when one vehicle struck another at Leisure Town Road and Orange Drive in Vacaville. Several officials indicated online that he had died by 3:30 p.m. at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Vacaville.
The California Highway Patrol released a press statement later in the day, indicating that Rodriguez allegedly was under the influence of drugs when she was taken into custody after the collision. She fled on foot but was detained by a passerby and booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of murder and driving under the influence causing injury and/or death.
Bowen, who joined the department in June of 2023, is survived by a wife and two sons, according to a statement from the Vacaville Police Department. Both children are under the age of 3, according to a friend of the family, who also noted that Bowen lived in Dixon. He also is survived by his parents and a brother. He previously served as a member of the Concord Police Department.