PROVO — A Mexican national accused of fatally shooting his boss at a Lehi construction site was ordered on Tuesday to undergo psychological evaluations to determine whether his mental capacity was diminished at the time of the shooting.
Jesus Hernandez, 33, appeared before 4th District Judge Steven Hansen, who ordered the evaluations at the request of defense attorney Dana Facemyer.
After the hearing, Facemyer said he asked for the evaluations because of "further discussion with Mr. Hernandez and information I received about the time of the incident."
Hansen also canceled the trial date, set to run from Aug. 27 to Sept. 3. He scheduled a hearing to discuss the outcome of the mental evaluations for Oct. 12.
The psychologists conducting the evaluations will try to determine whether Hernandez knew what he was doing on Jan. 9, the day he is accused of shooting his boss, Joseph Crummy, during a pay dispute.
A home building superintendent testified at a June 11 preliminary hearing that he was at the Lehi construction site on Jan. 9 when Hernandez pulled out a gun, pointed it at Crummy's face and pulled the trigger.
Nathan Leavitt said Hernandez, who is in the country illegally, was speaking to him about a wage dispute with Crummy when Crummy arrived at the site.
Hernandez and Crummy then started arguing about the issue. Leavitt said Hernandez went back to his car. And that's when he heard a sound like "firecrackers" — but when he turned to find out the cause of the noise, he saw Hernandez with a gun.
Both Jesus and Julian Hernandez filed claims with the Utah State Labor Commission on Dec. 20 against Crummy, a stucco contractor who ran Prestige Exteriors. Jesus Hernandez said Crummy owed him $1,345 for nearly three weeks of work. His father, Julian Hernandez, claimed $1,900, including $1,191 for a bounced paycheck.
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