Mental health evaluation ordered for murder suspect

A judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for a man accused of shooting and killing his uncle in rural Carlton County last April.

James Francis Montano, 33, of Bayfield County, was arrested in April 2018 for shooting his uncle, 57-year-old Andrew James Gokee, and injuring Gokee's son, 38-year-old Hudson Gauthier, who is Montano's cousin. Montano was indicted on first-degree premeditated murder charges by a grand jury on March 7. The grand jury also indicted him on charges of intentional second-degree murder and attempted premeditated first-degree murder.

According to court records, Montano's attorneys, Joanna Wiegert and Nicole Hoops, moved for an order directing a mental examination for the purpose of determining Montano's competency to proceed with the trial, and relating to mental illness as defense on March 20.

Carlton County Sixth District Judge Robert Macauley ordered the examination, and halted criminal proceedings until the examination is done and a competency hearing held.

The document containing the order stated that it appeared to the Court that there is reason to doubt "the Defendant's competency to understand the proceedings against her [sic] or to participate in her [sic] own defense, and the Defendent's competency at the time of the alleged acts."

The results of the exam must be sent to the court within 60 days. Among other things, it must contain a diagnosis of Montano's mental condition, as well as an opinion whether, because of mental illness or deficiency, "the defendant, at the time of commission of the offenses, was laboring under such a defective reason as not to know the nature of the act constituting the offenses with which the Defendant is charged or that it was wrong."

A review hearing is scheduled for May 21.