“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Dustin O’Brien, chief deputy for the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in New Mexico.
In July, Stallings, 50, of Farmington, reportedly decided to retain his assigned public defense attorney, Thomas Clark, after Stallings had previously stated he wished to dismiss him.
But in court Tuesday, Stallings apparently changed his mind again, said O’Brien, and asked District Court Judge Karen Townsend to grant a motion that would allow Stallings to represent himself.
At the same time, Stallings argued he wasn’t competent to stand trial, prompting Townsend to postpone proceedings until a mental evaluation can be conducted.
Stallings was to stand trial Nov. 28 on charges of possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner in connection to a December 2015 incident in the jail in which authorities discovered he had made a shank out of a pair of glasses.
The murder trial in the killing of Cugnini was slated to begin sometime in the spring. Both cases are likely to be pushed back because of the competency evaluation, which can take about 60 days, said O’Brien.
“Until that’s complete nothing will happen,” O’Brien said. “Depending on the results, we’ll have a hearing to determine whether he’s competent.”
Stallings is accused of breaking into Cugnini’s Flora Vista, New Mexico, home in October 2015 to steal jewelry, credit cards and checks, among other items. Authorities believe Cugnini came home during the burglary and was shot by Stallings.
Cugnini, 69, was found dead from a single gunshot wound.
Two days after the killing, Stallings was found at a residence in Farmington and refused to come out, inciting a standoff that required the San Juan County, New Mexico, Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and Farmington Police to surround the home.
He faces a charge of first-degree murder, as well as several other felony theft offenses related to the Oct. 1, 2015, homicide.
jromeo@durangoherald.com