Woman of slain girls back from mental hospital for arraignment

STEVENSON, Skamania County — A woman charged with killing her two young daughters has been released from a mental institution and a hearing on whether she is competent to stand trial is likely next month, authorities said.

Charlene A. Dorcy, 39, of the Hazel Dell area in the suburbs of Vancouver, Wash., was returned recently to the Skamania County Jail after an extended stay at Eastern State Hospital.

Her arraignment on two counts of aggravated murder in the shooting of her daughters, Brittney, 2, and Jessica, 4, had been set for yesterday in Superior Court but was postponed at the request of defense lawyer Joel R. "Bob" Yoseph to allow time for a mental examination by a private doctor.

Deputy prosecutor Adam Kick said doctors at Eastern State found Dorcy competent to stand trial. A decision is up to Judge E. Thompson Reynolds, who will likely hold a hearing with testimony from doctors for both sides toward the end of April.

Dorcy told investigators she drove her two daughters to an old quarry in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on June 12, then shot them with her husband's .22-caliber rifle. She turned herself in that night.

She has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and took an anti-psychotic medication for some time but dropped it four years ago in favor of herbal remedies because of concern about side effects.

She was sent to Eastern State for a 90-day mental evaluation in October after Prosecutor Peter Banks said she "does not understand the charges against her and can't assist in her own defense."

If convicted of aggravated murder, Dorcy would face a mandatory life prison term. Banks is not seeking the death penalty.