Superior Court Judge Susan Serko signed an order Monday requiring Thomas Shane O’Hagan to be evaluated at the state-run mental hospital in Lakewood.

It will be the ninth time O’Hagan has been either evaluated or treated by hospital staff members since his 2004 arrest. The 28-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Maria Flesher.

O’Hagan’s attorneys, Barbara Corey and Mary K. High, had argued that their client’s ability to receive a fair evaluation at the facility was threatened by a dispute involving psychiatrist Margaret Dean and psychologist Barry Ward.

The controversy prompted the previous judge – Beverly Grant – to remove herself after three years on the case.

Grant recused herself last month after accusations were raised that Dean might have inappropriately tried to contact her regarding Ward, who had evaluated O’Hagan and found him incompetent to stand trial.

Dean was not directly involved in O’Hagan’s case but attended a hearing on the matter last year. The psychiatrist visited Grant’s chambers during that hearing and later left a telephone message for the judge to call her regarding Ward, according to court records.

Attorneys on both sides said Dean’s conduct was inappropriate.

Corey and High had hoped Serko would send O’Hagan to mental health experts outside the state system so their client could receive what Corey called an “untainted evaluation.”

Serko declined that request but wrote in her Monday order that Dean have nothing to do with O’Hagan’s new evaluation at Western State.

Serko is to make a decision March 10 on O’Hagan’s competence to stand trial.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

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