This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
West Jordan • A March hearing has been set to argue whether a Utah man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing a 6-year-old West Jordan girl four years ago should be forcibly medicated to make him competent to stand trial.
Terry Lee Black, 45, is charged with first-degree felony counts of aggravated murder, child kidnapping and rape of a child for allegedly snatching Sierra Newbold from her West Jordan home and killing her on June 26, 2012.
A two-day evidentiary hearing is set to begin March 15 before 3rd District Judge L. Douglas Hogan, who has ruled that Black is not competent to stand trial.
Black's defense team opposes forced medication.
But a motion filed by prosecutors in October claims that forcing Black to take anti-psychotic medication is necessary for restoring him to competency, is unlikely to have adverse side affects, and that it is improbable that less intrusive alternatives would achieve the same results.
The prosecution's motion quotes a Utah State Hospital doctor, who said that of the patients admitted to the treatment unit of the hospital over the last 16 years, only four have been restored to competency without the use of anti-psychotic medication, and one of those was later returned to the hospital for being incompetent.
Hogan ruled in June that Black was not competent for trial. The judge also ruled in December 2015 that Black was incompetent because he could not understand the charges against him and could not meaningfully participate in his own defense.
Black allegedly abducted Sierra, charging documents state, from her West Jordan house — about a block from his own home — and beat, raped and strangled her before throwing her into a nearby canal, where she drowned.
Three days later, Black was arrested on suspicion of an unrelated bank robbery.
When he was taken into custody, investigators noticed soot and debris on his clothing and hands that were similar to the materials in a field where Sierra's clothes were found.
Lab results later showed that Black's DNA matched DNA found on Sierra's body, prosecutors said.
Black has sent letters to The Salt Lake Tribune from jail in which he has maintained his innocence. Police were looking for someone to pin Sierra's murder on, he said, and he was an easy target who got caught up in the investigation.