Judge names Staton’s guardian
Death-row inmate guilty of stabbing estranged girlfriend found not competent
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A federal judge has appointed a legal guardian for a former Altoona man who was sentenced to death by a jury after being convicted of murdering his estranged girlfriend nearly 20 years ago.
U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh last week appointed a death penalty resource counsel, Julie Brain of Philadelphia, to serve as a guardian for Andre Staton.
Staton, 60, was convicted of stabbing to death Beverly K. Yohn, who had obtained a protection-from-abuse order against him.
He violated that order in February 2004 when, during the early morning, he forced his way into the home where Yohn was staying and, in front of her children, stabbed her multiple times.
The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and recommended the judge sentence Staton to death.
Staton appealed his conviction and sentence, but in May 2020, he decided to waive any further appeal to the death sentence.
At that point, the judge ordered Staton's appeal put on hold pending the outcome of an evaluation of his mental competency.
The evaluation was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Eventually, Dr. Daniel Murrie of the University of Virginia Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy concluded Staton does not have the mental capacity to waive death penalty claims and to represent himself in the ongoing court proceedings.
He found Staton suffered from a severe psychiatric illness and did not understand the legal proceedings in which he had become involved.
Blair County also hired an expert, Dr. Steven E. Samuel, associated with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, to evaluate Staton.
He, too, found Staton's capacity to understand the legal implications of representing himself was limited.
Samuel concluded Staton would "not experience any spontaneous recovery from his mental disease ... the prognosis for his becoming competent is poor."
Because both sides agreed that Staton is not competent to waive any penalty phase claims, the judge canceled a competency hearing and issued an order finding Staton mentally incompetent.
The next question in the Staton case was whether a guardian should be appointed to make decisions concerning his ongoing appeals.
Conti last week appointed Brain, who for more than 30 years has represented defendants on death row.
She has experience with capital habeas units in Arkansas and Delaware and was on the staff of the Capital Habeas Corpus Center in San Francisco.
Conti's order stated that Brain is to make legal decisions on behalf of Staton that would include the possible resolution of his attempts to waive his penalty phase claims.
She is to consider Staton's "objectives or interests."
Staton has been represented in his federal appeal by Pittsburgh attorneys John A. Swab, Jennifer H. Bouriat and Robert Perkins.
The judge's order stated his attorneys "shall follow decisions of Ms. Brain as to the objectives of the representation as if those decisions were Mr. Staton's."
Under the judge's order, Brain is to consult with Staton's sister, Dariette Ballard, who will serve as a liaison with the Staton family.
The judge's order indicated Brain will be paid $210 per hour, up to 100 hours.
With Staton's competency issues resolved, his federal appeal will begin to move forward once again.
Staton is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Montgomery County.