Competence of defendant to be determined for trial

A trial starting Tuesday in Yuba County Superior Court will decide if a Linda man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 78-year-old Olivehurst man in 2000 will remain at a state mental institution.

George LeRoy Orin, 43, was found mentally incompetent in 2001 to stand trial in the slaying of Virgil Kenneth Patrick.

Orin has been held since then at Porterville State Hospital, said District Attorney Patrick McGrath.

The hospital staff petitioned successfully in April 2004 to keep Orin confined as a danger to the public. Petitions must be filed annually, said McGrath.

On Thursday, Orin waived his right to a jury trial after the latest petition, leaving the decision in the hands of a Yuba County judge, the district attorney said.

Yuba County deputies arrested Orin in November 2000. His brother, Robert Lee Orin, then 51, was arrested as an accessory but not charged.

Patrick lived in a trailer in the 5200 block of Olivehurst Avenue. Neighbors called the Sheriff's Department on Nov. 11, 2000, to check on Patrick, who had not been seen for 24 hours.

Deputies looked through a window and saw Patrick on the floor of the trailer. They forced their way inside and discovered he had been hit in the head within the previous day.

Investigators learned that the Orin brothers and Patrick were acquainted and had been involved in a dispute.

The brothers were found at their mother's Virginia Avenue home and arrested.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young can be reached at 749-4710. You may e-mail him at ryoung@appeal-democrat.com.