District court judge orders competency evaluation

Presiding from the bench in the Antelope County District Court in Neligh on April 27, the Honorable Mark Johnson sustained a motion by public defender Pat Carney, calling for examination and evaluation by a licensed psychiatrist or clinical psychologist to determine the mental capacity of a defendant to stand trial.

According to Carney’s motion, the examination is necessary to determine whether his client, Steven H. Habegger, 18, who remains in custody at the Antelope County Jail, has a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings against him and whether he has sufficient present abil...