Two day court hearing for Cozad begins in Coquille

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Story Published: Jun 10, 2009 at 4:22 PM PDT

By Kristina Nelson, KCBY News

COQUILLE, Ore. - A two day hearing is underway to determine the fate of Henry Levi Cozad, the autistic teen accused of killing his father's girlfriend earlier this year.

District Attorney Paul Frasier says the goal is to ask the court to find that Henry needs to be committed to the care of the Department of Human Services.

Physically making his first appearance in court since the incident, Cozad appeared childlike and dis-engaged from the proceedings.

Frasier is bringing forth dozens of witnesses to speak on different aspects about Cozad and the case, so that Judge Martin Stone can decide if Cozad is competent enough for criminal proceedings to continue.

Testifying Wednesday, on day one of the hearing, were a variety of educators, school teachers, and his long-time pediatrician, who spoke on Cozad's behavioral issues and their encounters with him one-on-one.

"Henry started having problems with aggressive behaviors, the first that I have in my chart notes, is at age six. Those were issues at school, shoving, hitting," says Pediatrician Donna Rabin.

"He was a friendly boy, always happy to see you. But it was definitely, we always had a behavior plan, because he, there was aggressive behaviors," says former Special Education Teacher Allison Pex.

Later in the afternoon, Frasier presented evidence concerning the death of 59 year-old Linda Sue Foley, hearing from police officers and crime lab workers.

Frasier says Friday they will hear from additional professionals.

"We'll probably have a psychiatrist or psychologist testify. And other individuals concerning if the court should commit or believe he should be committed and where he should go," says Frasier.

The two day hearing will resume back in Coquille on Friday morning.

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