Flagler County Circuit Judge Dennis Craig on Wednesday ordered Phillip J. Haire mentally evaluated to determine whether he can stand trial on 10 charges, including attempted first and second degree murder.
Haire, 19, is accused of shooting at his parents and at a Flagler County Sheriff’s sergeant in two drive-by runs, as the cop and his parents were standing outside the Haire house on London Drive in Palm Coast on May 2. Haire turned himself in a day later. In his first appearance before a judge, he claimed someone else did the shooting. He’s being held at the Flagler County jail on $200,000 bond.
On June 23, his attorney, Jeremy Buckmaster, filed a request with the court for a mental evaluation of Haire. The “Suggestion of Mental Incompetence to Stand Trial” is based on Buckmaster’s observations of Haire at the jail and through conversations.
Buckmaster claims Haire “does not have sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding,” and has “no rational, as well as factual, understanding of the proceedings against him.”
Buckmaster, without going into detail, wrote that Haire has also “exhibited inappropriate behavior in the presence of counsel and the Court,” is disoriented, does not appreciate the nature of the charges against him or the range of possible penalties (those penalties include, potentially, life in prison), and does not “appear to understand [the] adversary nature of the legal process” or the role of his own attorney in that process. Haire, it appears, has not been cooperating with Buckmaster.
Haire’s mother has previously said in interviews that her son has had mental health challenges since being shot in the stomach when he was 17, in a dispute near the London Drive house in 2015.
Haire is to be evaluated on July 22 by Roger Davis, a psychologist who practices at Sanz & Sanz Psychological in DeLand and in Ormond Beach.Davis will have access to all records in the case, from the State Attorney’s office and medical records from the jail, from hospitals or from mental health providers. Davis will then have to determine whether the attorney’s claims are true, whether Haire, should he be suffering from mental illness, meets the criteria for being involuntarily committed to an institution, and “whether there is a substantial probability that the Defendant will attain competence in the foreseeable future.”
The order mirrors two similar orders that have involved high-profile defendants in recent years. One of them is Daniel Noble, who initially faced an attempted murder charge for a shooting at European Village in 2014. His case navigated the labyrinth of mental competence and incompetence before it was finally resolved four weeks ago, with Noble getting seven years’ probation. The other case is that of Joseph Bova, the man accused of murdering Zuheili Roman Rosado, a store clerk at a Palm Coast gas station in 2013. Bova’s trial has been delayed as he was again in April declared incompetent to stand trial, though as is usually the case with such findings, the declaration is not final. Nor would it be if Haire was found at the moment to be in competent. It would merely extend the duration of the court proceedings.
Meanwhile, both Haire’s parents, Phillip Haire Sr. and Jeneen Anthony-Haire, who were allegedly targeted in the shooting, on June 15 requested permission to see and speak to Haire at the jail, even though he has a no-contact order with his parents. “I will not discuss the current case with him as I am listed as a victim and/or a witness,” both parents wrote in their affidavit to the court. The affidavit followed a motion by Haire’s lawyer to modify the no-contact order. Jason Lewis, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case, had no objections, according to court papers.
The first pre-trial hearing is scheduled for July 12 at 1:30 p.m. before Craig, in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse.
Concerned Citizen says
So tired of hearing the mental health excuse. When are we going to hold people accountable for their actions?
He was capable enough of shooting at his house and then law enforcement. He knew to shoot at law enforcement because they were trying to arrest him.
If I remember correctly this story started because he was living at home still and momma had tough rules. He didn’t want to follow those rules and went off in a temper.
When you do bad things bad things are going to happen. Stop hiding behind “mental competency” and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
One Flew Over The Cuckoos nest says
PAH – LEASE!!! I hope the courts produce all of his social media profiles and conversations up to turning himself in to see how competent he is. It’s called a BIG BABY perpetrating the gangster life and finding out how fast “one court date turns an outlaw into an inmate.”
woodchuck says
The easy way out, that’s about right.
Anonymous says
I see probation in his future.
RayD says
I saw this guy dealing drugs on London for years. Insane? No, that defense won’t work. He’s another thoughtless sociopath produced by our self indulgent society. I hope they lock him up for years with no chance of parole. He ruined a very nice community.
Steven says
Drug dealers and gang bangers are well known for their lying tactics……..
ASF says
Drug addled and sociopathic is not an excuse. He’s been around the block and knows the consequences. He doesn’t appreciate them because he doesn’t care. He feels he’s always going to find a way off the hook. And a mental incompetence excuse is just one of many in his criminal bag of tricks.
Veteran says
Maybe after 10 years at Starke he will think before he does any more stupid shit!
Anon says
He was shot in the stomach guys really. Does ptsd only count when you’re a vet?
Itsme says
What a joke!!! Competent enough to think he’s a thug! Keep him locked up
Uncensored says
Everyone is so nosy and ignorant. Everyone is quick to judge. Just look at the history people. He didn’t start getting into trouble until after he was shot. You people have no idea what that does to someone’s physique. He was an exceptional athlete who began disabled and couldn’t walk correctly. Let that happen to you or one of your ones and see howdy respond. I do not agree with what he did, but if he needs help, he should get it. THANK YOU Anon, PTSD is not just for vets, And if this kid has been playing football for a long time there’s something called Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that he may be suffering from..
Concerned Citizen says
@ Anon
He was shot in the stomach over dealing drugs. Maybe if he wasn’t out there doing shady things he wouldn’t get shot.
Save the pity for the Vets and victims of crimes committed by people like him.
Brian says
I could have told you he had mental issues when he first appeared in the news. SO WHAT? Lock him up for the sake and safety of the community!
Sadie says
@Uncensored – Baloney! He was shot by his thug, drug dealing rivals. He was already into the thug, drug life long before he was shot and that life is why he was shot!
ASF says
Comparing this guy to veterans with PTSD is ridiculous. He did not grow up in an inner city where prolonged exposure to violence might have contributed to such a diagnosis. The only “Mental Incompetence” his defense team can hope to prove is to get this guy a Brain MRI to try to show whether his football playing may have contributed to some kind of Brain Syndrome that hampered his executive functions. Other than that, it seems likely that he is sociopathic–and the prisons are full of sociopaths. Strangely, enough, sociopaths often function better in an intensely controlled environment like prison than they do on the outside.
r&r says
If he needs rehab maybe 10-20 years in prison will do it.
Robjr says
I recall a case a couple of months ago where a man took an assault rifle into a restaurant and attempted to do bodily harm.
Reading the reporting on that case here in FlaglerLive I don’t remember reading the same vociferous type of comments as written in this comment section.
ASF says
I might suggest to you that you either didn’t read the all the comments about that particular incident in their entirety or you didn’t read them with an open mind. That being said, there are inequities in our system and prejudice does most certainly exist. In this case, however, it seems that this young man has gotten his fair share of breaks. And those breaks haven’t served him or those around him well.
think about outhers lifes before thowing them away says
U ppl are so fing dumb he has problems I did time and you all said the same stuff about me and you know what I’m fine I have a child that I wasn’t able to be third for the first 6 months for ppl like you I hruts ppls family it rips family’s aprat an none of you think wait he made some mistakes. He’s young he will lrean I dont live in palm coast anymore an never want to its a place full of ppl who judge u for things that don’t like you lil cummmity u cant be a redneck u cant bd black u cant fly a rebel falg cuzz it hurts ur feelings I’m country. I’m redneck amd yall never liked me so think before you judge. Cuzz I have my own business. An work full time with 2 kids and I been in an out of jail for years