“Not Competent for Trial” Rulings in Norfolk County Homicide

A Marshfield, Massachusetts attorney, Craig Kowalski practices with Nuttall, MacAvoy & Joyce, P.C., and provides representation to school districts in education matters. Craig Kowalski was previously assistant district attorney with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and assisted in the investigation and prosecution of diverse homicide cases.

Among the high profile cases he helped prosecute was the November 2011 murder by Donald Rudolph of his mother, sister, and mother’s boyfriend. Initially held by Norfolk County Corrections, Rudolph was transferred to Bridgewater State Hospital in April 2013.

With the Norfolk County Superior Court judge ruling initially that evaluations found the suspect “not competent to stand trial,” this was changed to “competent to stand trial” after an October 2013 competency evaluation.

During early 2014 hearings, Mr. Kowalski testified as assistant prosecutor that there were no reports of overt mental illness in the defendant. While diagnosed with antisocial personality and marijuana abuse, he was high functioning and friendly while at Bridgewater State Hospital. Testifying for the defense, a Bridgewater physician described Rudolph as having symptoms of schizophrenia and writing letters to his dead sister and mother. This hearing culminated in a March 2014 decision that Rudolph was not competent to stand trial and subsequent yearly evaluations were in line with this Norfolk County Superior Court decision.

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