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A trial date remains pending for a 36-year-old parolee charged with stabbing an elderly man in a Fairfield fast food restaurant in 2018.
Solano County Superior Court records show that Dale James Chordorowski, who appeared Tuesday Department 11, was scheduled for a trial setting, but Judge William J. Pendergast reset it for 8:30 a.m. May 4 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
At the the newly scheduled setting, Pendergast also will consider a Romero motion submitted by the Public Defender’s Office, which represents Chordorowski. It is a motion by a defense attorney to remove a prior strike conviction from consideration during sentencing. If a judge grants the motion, it can significantly reduce the length of a state prison sentence should a defendant be convicted.
After a 2021 preliminary hearing, as previously reported, Pendergast declared there was enough evidence to hold Chordorowski for trial.
During a previous court proceeding, Chordorowski also faced a restoration-of-mental-competency hearing in connection with the attempted murder charge for stabbing the man, who was 80 at the time of the attack.
Pendergast in 2020 made a decision about the defendant’s competency, ordering Chordorowski to return for subsequently scheduled proceedings.
Chordorowski is accused of knifing the victim while the man was having lunch with his wife on Sept. 19, 2018, at the Burger King in the 2400 block of North Texas Street. He was jailed without bail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and violating terms of his parole. He remains in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield.
Court records show Pendergast on May 6, 2019, referred Chordorowski to MHM Services, a contract provider of health services to government agencies, with a secure facility in Vallejo, for evaluation after the defendant was deemed to be incompetent.
However, during proceedings several years ago, Pendergast ordered Chordorowski committed to the Department of State Hospitals for a maximum term of two years; and, on June 5, 2019, the judge signed an order sending Chordorowski to one of five state hospitals for treatment.
Some six weeks later, on July 22, Chordorowski was placed in a jail-based competency treatment program, according to court records.
On Aug. 15, he was referred to a state hospital and, on Aug. 28, Pendergast received notice of his admission to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino.
Under state law, specifically Penal Code section 1368, a defendant who is considered unable to help in his or her defense or understand court proceedings cannot be tried. However, once they are deemed competent, criminal charges can be reinstated and the defendant can be scheduled to face more court proceedings, including a jury trial.
On Oct. 10, 2019, the court received Chordorowski’s restoration-to-mental-competency report from the Patton facility. Solano County Sheriff officials arrested Chordorowski there on Oct. 15, jail records indicate.
Chordorowski’s defense attorney at the time, Deputy Public Defender Courtney L. Oxsen, had previously expressed doubts about her client’s mental competency, and the judge agreed to set a hearing for a doctor’s report.
Should Chordorowski be found guilty of first-degree attempted murder at trial, he faces a maximum life sentence in prison with the possibility of parole but may face more time for the parole violation, use of a deadly weapon, and the previous conviction.
Originally published at Richard Bammer