Competency Hearing Rescheduled for Woman Charged in Fatal Berkley Crash

Editor's note: Stay tuned to Berkley Patch for a more detailed report on this case.

, was ordered Tuesday to return to in Berkley on Dec. 6 for a competency hearing and remains tethered and free on bond.

Judge James Wittenberg adjourned the hearing Tuesday without further action after a doctor tasked with determining Gaynor's competency to stand trial failed to submit paperwork to the court.

Gaynor was involved in a collision March 20 near 12 Mile and Greenfield roads, in which Terrence Dyer, 42, of Detroit was killed. Moments before that crash, Gaynor also clipped a vehicle at 12 Mile Road and Coolidge Highway, Berkley Public Safety Deputy Director Robert North has said.

THC, a substance found in the cannabis plant, was detected in Gaynor's system after the three-car crash.

Defense attorney Randy C. Rodnick has argued that Gaynor, who has had prior hospitalizations for mental illness, was hearing voices at the time and has been unable to afford the medication she needs.

Wittenberg in June ordered Gaynor to undergo a mental competency and criminal responsibility forensic examination after Rodnick told the court that Gaynor suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Rodnick told the court Tuesday that Gaynor had suffered a "relapse" and was hospitalized from Oct. 12 to Oct. 21 at the Behavioral Center of Michigan in Warren, thus preventing the doctor tasked with deciding her competency from being able to determine her condition.

A wan, silent Gaynor stood next to Rodnick as he spoke and her family looked on from the back of the courtroom. Her physical health appeared visibly improved since the last hearing, when she wore a brace and used crutches due to injuries sustained during the accident.

"At this point, there hasn't been anything on paper that says she's been determined competent or not," Wittenberg said, noting Gaynor has not violated the terms of her bond. "Until I have the report from the doctor, in writing, I'm not inclined to alter bond."

However, he did decline a defense request to remove Gaynor's tether due to her family's difficulty affording the related fees.

"If she can't pay for the tether, she can consider sitting in custody," he said, to a chorus of "yes!" from Dyer's family members, who packed the courtroom.

"I wish I had a son with a tether on," the victim's tearful mother, Dotty Dyer said after the hearing Tuesday. "We can't bring him back."