Prosecutors are expected to oppose the claim by Brockman’s lawyers that he isn’t competent to stand trial, and the legal burden for establishing that is high. Last month, Geneva prosecutors froze over $1 billion that Brockman held in Swiss bank accounts.
In their filing, Brockman’s lawyers said that three doctors affiliated with Baylor have confirmed Pool’s findings about his medical condition. Each will testify in a hearing to determine whether Brockman is capable of assisting in his defense, according to the filing.
Defense lawyers will call other witnesses, including his wife and colleagues, to establish that Brockman has “demonstrable cognitive and memory challenges,” according to a filing by one of his attorneys, Kathryn Keneally.
In her filing, Keneally said she gave copies of letters and correspondence from Pool and the three other doctors to prosecutors on April 9, or nearly six months before Brockman was indicted. Defense lawyers encouraged the government to “investigate these medical opinions by providing the necessary waivers from Mr. Brockman (since revoked post-indictment) to allow the prosecutors to contact the physicians separately, without participation by the defense.” Prosecutors didn’t contact any of the doctors before the indictment, Keneally said.
Brockman didn’t resign as CEO of Reynolds & Reynolds until Nov. 6, or several weeks after the indictment. He was succeeded by Tommy Barras, who joined the company in 1976.
Brockman, a onetime IBM salesman who goes by Bob, founded his own software company, Universal Computer Services Inc., 50 years ago. It merged with a larger rival, Reynolds & Reynolds, and is now a $1 billion operation based in Dayton, Ohio.
At a court hearing on Nov. 17, defense lawyer Neal Stephens said the case against Brockman involves 22 million pages of documents. The judge, who has set a trial date of next Nov. 15, said he was considering a venue change even before reading all the legal filings on the question.
At that hearing, Brockman’s lawyers didn’t address the question of his competency. Rather, they said the government’s indictment didn’t show that Brockman filed his tax returns in the Northern District of California. Alsup said the rising coronavirus pandemic could force a slowdown in trials.
“I’m sure the government wouldn’t mind trying this case in Houston, Texas,” Alsup said. “They got fair-minded jurors down there, just like they do here. So it might be better if Mr. Brockman did want a speedy trial. Now, if he does not want a speedy trial, then all this is really just delay. Delay city. And I don’t care for that.”
With assistance from Neil Weinberg.