By KENNETH HART - The Independent
CATLETTSBURG — The man accused of being the infamous “Duct Tape Bandit” has been found competent to stand trial.
Boyd Circuit Judge C. David Hagerman ruled Tuesday following a closed-door hearing that Kasey G. Kazee was mentally capable of being tried on charges of first-degree robbery and second-degree persistent felony offender.
The judge scheduled Kazee’s trial for May 12.
Hagerman signed an order in October directing that Kazee undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center at LaGrange.
According to Hagerman, the competency hearing was moved from the courtroom to his chambers after Kazee’s attorney, public defender Brian Hewlett, raised the issue of whether his client’s psychiatric records were protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which prevents the release of certain medical information without a patient’s consent.
Dr. Stephen H. Free, the leader of the team at KCPC that evaluated Kazee, testified at Tuesday’s hearing, according to Hagerman’s order.
Free told the court he found no evidence that Kazee suffered from psychosis, the order states. He also said it was his opinion that Kazee did not lack the capacity to appreciate the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him, and that he was able to participate rationally in his own defense.
Kazee, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from an incident this past summer that generated national and international attention.
According to the Ashland Police Department, Kazee entered Shamrock Liquors at 13th Street and Pollard Road on Aug. 10 with his entire face and head, save for his eyes and mouth, wrapped in duct tape and his shirt pulled up over his head.
Kazee allegedly indicated to a female clerk that he had a knife and threatened to harm her if she didn’t give him the money in the cash register. The clerk complied and the robber turned and fled with his pockets stuffed full of quarters from the register, but nothing more.
Before he could make his getaway, though, a Shamrock Liquors employee, Craig Miller, tackled him in the store’s parking lot. Miller and other men who came running from the Foodland store next door detained Kazee until the police arrived.
In a bizarre, rambling jailhouse interview with a local television station, Kazee maintained his innocence, claiming that police arrested the wrong man.
While the story has generated plenty of laughs, Kazee is looking at serious prison time if he’s convicted. First-degree robbery is normally a Class B felony that carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years. However, the persistent felony offender designation enhances it to a Class A felony, which carries a possible prison term of 20 years to life.
Kazee remains in the Boyd County Detention Center under $50,000 bond.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.
