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October 9, 2006

Murder suspect who sat atop crane is unfit to stand trial

ATLANTA — The murder suspect who spent more than two days atop a construction crane last year is now awaiting transfer to a Florida mental hospital after being found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

For 57 hours in May 2005, Carl Edward Roland was perched high above Atlanta’s Buckhead area, keeping police at bay and snarling traffic.

Police were finally able to subdue Roland with a stun gun as the thirsty man approached an officer who was holding a cup of water.

Florida prosecutors wanted to put Roland, 43, on trial for the murder of his former girlfriend, Jennifer Gonzalez, 36, whose body was found behind her Oldsmar, Fla., apartment the day before Roland climbed the construction crane in Atlanta.

But after being brought back to Florida, a judge ruled Roland mentally incompetent after an examination by three psychiatrists, Assistant State’s Attorney Aaron Slavin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“The doctors say he is paranoid, and very nervous; I think anyone charged with first-degree murder would be nervous, but the doctors cite an inability to consult with his attorney,” Slavin said.

In the meantime, Roland is being held in a maximum-security jail cell near Clearwater, Fla. He is awaiting transfer to the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Fla., near the Georgia line.

“There’s a secure section in Chattahoochee for (mentally ill) prisoners, but the hospital has a backlog, and we’re uncertain when he can go there,” Slavin said. “It’s our hope that with drugs and counseling, he can be restored to mental competency and at that point, be returned to stand trial.”

A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 on Roland’s mental competency.

Slavin said he planned to seek a sentence of life in prison without parole.

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