McCrae’s case given to public defender

By GAIL CETNAR, News-Sun Staff Writer



A California judge appointed a public defender Tuesday morning for a former Springfield man charged in the slaying of a police officer.

Andrew H. McCrae's arraignment hearing was continued until 8 a.m. Feb. 25 in Tehama County Superior Court. Judge Richard Scheuler appointed public defender James Reichle, who requested the continuance.

At the next hearing, McCrae should enter a plea and a preliminary hearing should be scheduled, said Rene Shuman, an assistant court clerk.

McCrae, 23, was extradited from New Hampshire to California after a judge dismissed a petition fighting his return. McCrae's attorney in New Hampshire, Mark Sisti, had argued that McCrae could not understand court proceedings and is mentally incompetent.

A judge ruled that competence is not an issue to consider at an extradition hearing and that McCrae's comments to his attorney, a doctor and the press showed that he understands the proceedings and is capable of discussing the facts.

In a telephone interview Jan. 14 with the Record Searchlight newspaper in Redding, Calif., McCrae reportedly said he understood everything that had happened in his case and wanted to fire Sisti.

McCrae was booked Jan. 29 into the Tehama County Jail and is being held without bail.

At a hearing Thursday, McCrae asked to represent himself with a public defender to assist him, Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen said.

McCrae is charged with murder and murder of a police officer on duty and could face the death penalty if convicted.

He is accused of shooting Red Bluff, Calif., police Officer David Mobilio while he was on duty Nov. 19. Mobilio was shot twice in the side and once in the head while he fueled his patrol car.

Investigators believe McCrae confessed to the murder Nov. 25 on a San Francisco news Web site, www.indymedia.org. In one of two letters posted online, the writer identified as McCrae claims he shot and killed the officer to protest "police state tactics" and corporate irresponsibility. The writer claimed he is immune from prosecution because he incorporated himself in New Hampshire as a protest against corporations who "murder thousands of people each year."

McCrae, who legally changed his name from Mickel in November, is a 1998 graduate of North High School. He served three years in the Army before attending Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.