Crime & Safety
No Trial for Mentally Ill Man Accused of Stabbing Athens Police Officer
A judge has ruled that Steven Anthony Eberhart, who nearly killed Sgt. Courtney Gale in 2007, is not competent to be tried.
It took four years of therapy for Athens-Clarke officer Courtney Gale to be able to after being stabbed in the leg while working security at a .
It's taken more than four juries and a judge to determine whether the man accused of stabbing her, Steven Anthony Eberhart, is fit to face criminal charges.
Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lawton Stephens ruled last week that Eberhart, who has been diagnosed with more than one mental illness, is not competent to stand trial, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
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Eberhart is now considered in the custody of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, where he is under care in Augusta, the paper reported.
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