Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis will issue a written ruling in the coming weeks over whether Jasen Coley – who killed 25-year-old Kenneth “Michael” Davis on July 3, 2023 – will see state prison or a mental hospital.
After receiving written arguments from the prosecution and defense in early January, Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis said he plans to issue a ruling the week of Jan. 22 regarding Jasen Coley, who fatally shot 25-year-old Kenneth “Michael” Davis on July 3. Testimony in Coley’s case – featuring two psychiatrists who evaluated Coley and discovery records, both concluding that Coley killed Davis because he believed aliens told him to – wrapped up on Thursday.
The morning proceedings saw Deputy District Attorney Candace Myers press a psychiatrist appointed at her request on his conclusion that Jasen Coley – who spent several days driving from Tennessee to McKinleyville to fatally shoot Kenneth “Michael” Davis on July 3 as Davis came home from work – did not understand the nature and reality of his choice to kill his old friend.
Deputy District Attorney Candace Myers asked Dr. Robert Soper several questions about his medical conclusions regarding the mental state of Jasen Coley, who fatally shot 25-year-old Kenneth “Michael” Davis on July 3. Soper said that Coley met the requirements for a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict – which would send Coley to a state hospital, rather than a 15-years to life in prison sentence – and Myers wanted the specifics on how he reached that conclusion. Soper said that, while Coley’s specific documented delusions might have changed over time, the paranoid psychosis was consistent.