October 5, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
The case against a man accused of setting fire to the courthouse over two years ago has again been delayed.
56 year old Gary Wayne Ponder made an appearance in DeKalb County Criminal Court today (Friday) but Judge Gary McKenzie granted another continuance until November 26 to give state prosecutors an opportunity to review results of Ponder’s medical evaluation when they become available. The evaluation took place only two days ago and the District Attorney General’s Office has not yet been provided results of the tests.
The last trial date for Ponder was set for May 9th but was postponed after Assistant District Public Defender Scott Grissom, who is representing Ponder, filed a motion on April 25 asking for the continuance (postponement) of the trial in order for Ponder to undergo an evaluation by a clinical and forensic psychologist to determine if Ponder’s medical condition could be affecting his mental state.
The court granted the motion.
In the pleadings, Grissom states that “as grounds for this motion, the defendant (Ponder) would show that on April 2, 2018, a letter from Sherry Wright, ANP-BC of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was received and it states that Mr. Ponder suffered from heptic encephalopathy as a result of cirrhosis. The defense would argue that the evaluation is essential to determine whether the defendant was suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the incident that could provide a defense pursuant to (state law)”.
Ponder was deemed to be competent after his first evaluation several weeks after the fire.
Smithville Police charged Ponder on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 after he was observed on the courthouse surveillance video system intentionally lighting fire in a newspaper recycling bin on the first floor vestibule. The video showed that on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 Ponder grabbed newspapers from the recycling bin and started the fire by lighting them with a cigarette lighter.
The fire damaged the wall behind the recycling bin and cracked a window in the vestibule near the first floor entrance of the courthouse.