A court order issued Tuesday called for a psychiatric evaluation of a man accused of stabbing another man in the back with a sword in Oak Ridge on July 13.
The evaluation at Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital could determine whether Jeffrey John Smith, 30, of Park Meade Circle, is competent to stand trial and his “mental capacity at the time of the commission of his alleged offenses,” according to the order signed by General Sessions Court Judge Ronald Murch.
Smith’s court-appointed attorney, Marty Cizek, said he requested the evaluation based on the alleged facts and “some other information that became available,” although he did not elaborate.
He said the evaluation has not been scheduled yet.
A status hearing for Smith scheduled for Tuesday has been reset to 1 p.m. Aug. 28 at General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.
Smith is accused of stabbing Michael Showalter of Johnson Road after a fist fight at a Van Hicks Place apartment, according to Anderson County court records.
Showalter was reportedly taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center and later discharged. Smith remains jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in lieu of $1 million bond.
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