Competency hearing pending in Jaccquot case

SANDPOINT — A hearing is set for Thursday to determine if a Bonner County man indicted in California on federal molestation charges is competent to stand trial.

David Charles Jacquot’s competency hearing is being held in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

Documents available for public viewing do not explicitly say why Jacquot’s competency is in question, although various other documents in the case allege that he abruptly lost his ability to speak following a suspicious fire that destroyed his home in Vay in March 2010.

Jacquot, a 48-year-old attorney, was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The indictment alleges Jacquot flew the teen from Spokane, Wash., to San Diego on three occasions in 2006, when she was between the ages of 15 and 16.

Jacquot’s attorney, Michael Crowley, said the allegations against his client are “unfounded.”

There are dueling reports concerning Jacquot’s fitness to proceed, court documents indicate.

The defense has filed doctors’ reports concluding that Jacquot is not competent, while the feds have filed a doctor’s evaluation indicating he is fit to proceed.

Crowley sought to have the defense evaluations kept from federal prosecutors and used only by the court, but U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes rejected the request.

Other pretrial wrangling in the case involves witness statements.

The defense is pressing for the release of witness statements, but the prosecution intends to release them two weeks prior to trial due to concerns of witness intimidation by Jacquot’s wife, Ann.

“The evidence in the case shows that the Defendant’s wife has made more than one attempt to get the victim to recant her testimony and initially paid the victim approximately $2,000 to take a ‘vacation’ when Idaho law enforcement officers were attempting to interview the victim after the victim reported the molestation to her high school counselor,” Kevin Kelly, attorney for the U.S., said in a response to a defense request for discovery materials.

The defense disputes the veracity of the grand jury testimony of the alleged victim, court documents show.

Jacquot was awaiting trial San Diego in a federal 2008 tax fraud case when he was indicted by the grand jury.

The two matters have been consolidated for trial.