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Psychological evaluation ordered for assault suspect

A Havre man accused of breaking into a woman's home was ordered today to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Shane Hiawatha Denny, 26, appeared in state District Court in Havre on charges of burglary, assault, and possession of a concealed weapon.

Judge John McKeon ordered that Denny, who has been held in the Hill County Detention Center since May, be evaluated at Warm Springs State Hospital.

Denny's court-appointed attorney, James Spangelo, filed a motion Wednesday asking for the evaluation.

"I don't believe he's competent to assist me," Spangelo told McKeon during the hearing today. "An evaluation is extraordinarily necessary."

Denny, clad in a red jumpsuit, sat silently through the hearing while rocking back and forth in his chair.

Spangelo also filed a motion asking that Denny be released on his own recognizance to his father. Hill County Attorney David Rice argued against the motion, pointing to a "lengthy misdemeanor criminal record" and other pending assault charges.

Denny is charged in Justice Court with assaulting two Hill County detention officers earlier this month. He was also convicted in July of 1998 of felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs. He was given a deferred sentence, which was revoked less than a year later. He served three years in the custody of the Montana Department of Corrections.

Denny is set to be arraigned Aug. 8 on the burglary, assault and concealed weapons charges.

According to the criminal complaint, Denny entered a Havre woman's home during the early afternoon of May 17 and awoke her from a nap. Denny had long hair and was wearing a ripped T-shirt, jeans, and a pair of handcuffs attached to a chain around his neck, the document said.

He asked the woman if he could perform some work for money, and she said no, the document said. Then Denny put his arm around the woman in "an insulting and provoking manner," the document said, and told the woman he would find and take the money anyway.

He left without doing anything further, the complaint said. The woman told her neighbor, who called the police.

Officers located Denny a short while later and arrested him, according to the charging document. During the arrest, officers found a knife concealed in Denny's jeans.

He told officers he had been "sent from Heaven," the document said.

 

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