‘He has failed,’ prosecutor says of accused killer in sheriff’s deputy’s slaying

Christopher Keith Calmer, accused of fatally shooting a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy after allegedly inciting a gunbattle at his parents’ house in September 2014, has been deemed competent to stand trial.

Calmer, a former computer technician who lost his job nearly a decade ago after bouts of chronic back and neck pain, had been living with his parents near Bolingbroke when the deadly shootout happened. He could face the death penalty if convicted at trial, which is expected to begin next year.

In Monroe Superior Court this week, Calmer’s lawyers in arguments Tuesday and Wednesday told jurors he was not fit to stand trial because his severe pain makes him unable to assist his attorneys in his own defense — one of the legal factors in whether a person can be criminally tried.

At times during pretrial hearings this year, Calmer, as if in agony, has groaned and muttered and, at one point, sprawled on the courtroom floor. On Tuesday, he cursed at Judge Tommy Wilson for “denying me medical attention.”

Prosecutors contended that while Calmer, who is 48, may be in pain he is aware of the charges against him and is capable of helping in his own defense. They showed jurors jailhouse surveillance footage of Calmer appearing to dress himself with ease the day after one of his courtroom outbursts, an occasion on which he was wheeled out on a stretcher.

Jurors in the competency case, who were brought in from neighboring Upson County, deliberated about an hour and 20 minutes Thursday morning before returning their decision.

Calmer, as he had for much of the week’s proceedings, sat between his lawyers with his head resting on an oak table. He showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read.

Deputy Norris’ mother and father, Fran and Bennett, were seated less than 25 feet away. They hugged as jurors filed out of the room.

Towaliga Circuit District Attorney Richard Milam said afterward that he would not be surprised if Calmer disrupts future hearings.

“We expect to have to fight every inch of the way,” Milam said.

He called the jury’s verdict on Thursday “the correct decision,” adding that “the state is now proceeding to do what we started off to do, and that’s try him for murder.”

As to Calmer’s courtroom conniptions and whether they may have been gambits to prolong the case or perhaps toy with the judicial process, Milam said, “I do not doubt in any regard that he has pain. But a lot of people have pain. … He’s just trying to avoid the consequences of his action, and he has failed.”

Calmer’s lawyers declined comment on the verdict.

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 11:17 AM with the headline "‘He has failed,’ prosecutor says of accused killer in sheriff’s deputy’s slaying."