A Clarke County Superior Court judge ordered a mental competency trial for a man accused of attacking a University of Georgia student on the North Oconee River Greenway last September.
The trial was scheduled for June 27 on a request made last month by a defense attorney for 43-year-old Pedro Alvarado-Valle.
Chief Judge David Sweat issued the order on Thursday, the same day he ruled Alvarado-Valle must undergo an examination by a state psychiatrist.
The examination is to determine whether Alvarado-Valle is mentally retarded, has a mental disorder requiring treatment, or whether the “presence of a delusional compulsion overmastered (his) will to resist committing the alleged act,” according to the judge’s order.
Sweat will hold a bench trial, a legal proceeding held without a jury in which the judge listens to the evidence and decides a verdict. Sweat has extensive experience handling cases involving mental competency as the presiding judge of the Athens-Clarke County Treatment and Accountability Court.
Alvarado-Valle is accused by Athens-Clarke County police of attacking a 19-year-old UGA student on Sept. 20. After completing a run on the Athens Greenway, the student reportedly was walking on the trail near College Avenue when Alvarado-Valle grabbed her around the neck from behind. He allegedly punched the student and ran off when she screamed, according to police.
The student and witnesses provided descriptions from which a Georgia Bureau of Investigation forensic artist made a sketch Athens-Clarke County police made public. The description included a tattoo of red lips on the suspect’s neck.
Calls from the public led to Alvarado-Valle’s arrest nine days after the alleged assault. He was charged with aggravated assault and battery, and has been held without bond at the Clarke County Jail.
Police said they did not know what the man’s motives were.
The incident occurred seven years after Gary Gaylord Ford attempted to rape a UGA student on the Greenway. He is serving a life sentence for the assault and related offenses.
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