PORT ANGELES — Bobby J. Smith, who is accused of shooting his next-door neighbor in Port Angeles last summer, is undergoing treatment at Western State Hospital in Tacoma.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood on Friday set a June 1 review hearing.
Smith, 58, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the shooting of 63-year-old Robert Fowler at Smith’s residence at 211 Vashon Ave. last June.
Smith pleaded not guilty after he was arrested in Texas last October and returned to Clallam County.
He was committed to Western State on Jan. 23 and ordered to have competency restoration Feb. 16.
The court found that Smith lacked the “capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings against him” or to “assist in his own defense as a result of mental disease of defect.”
The court also found that Smith is likely to regain competency with treatment.
Defense attorney Harry Gasnick told the court March 16 that Smith would be willing to take medications.
Smith had moved to Amarillo, Texas, before Clallam County Superior Court Judge S. Brooke Taylor issued a bench warrant for his arrest Sept. 23.
A team of Texas Rangers served the warrant a few days later and booked Smith into the jail in Potter County.
Two Port Angeles police officers traveled to Texas to gather more evidence and return Smith to Clallam County.
Smith pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
