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“It’s apparent there is something very serious going on with your client – mental illness,” Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi told a lawyer for 28-year-old Joseph Bariso this morning.
For one thing, she said, Bariso claimed to work as a spy for the NSA.
For another, a bail reduction request collapsed before it began two weeks ago when Bariso questioned his public defender’s credentials (SEE: Bizarre courtroom response ends bail hearing for Lodi man charged with killing grandmother, 85).
DeAvila-Silebi ordered a psychiatrist’s evaluation at the Ann Klein Forensic Center in West Trenton to determine whether Bariso is competent to stand trial.
Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi
She also refused to reduce Bariso’s $2 million bail for murder.
Defense attorney Jaclyn Medina argued for a lower amount, saying that her client has ties to the community and wouldn’t be considered a flight risk. The only thing going against him, she said, is that he doesn’t have a job.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer, in turn, noted that Bariso — who’d gone AWOL from the Army — shot his grandmother,, Olga Bariso, four times on Dec. 29 as she lay sleeping on her living-room couch. He then fled, she said.
After disposing of the gun, which was never recovered, he “had the presence of mind” to go to a Target store and change his clothing, Grootenboer said.
Authorities issued an all-points bulletin for the younger Bariso after police were called to the house. Rutherford police found him walking along Rutherford Avenue several hours later.
Joseph Bariso (MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE)
He originally was charged with attempted murder and hindering apprehension. The charges were upgraded to murder after Olga Bariso died on Jan. 11.
DeAvila-Silebi said she had “other concerns,” as well — particularly involving Bariso’s mental state.
For instance, she said, he claimed to work for the NSA.
“He did abandon his post from the US Army, which is a flight risk,” the judge said. “More important, he reports that he works for the NSA, which is like a spy.
“That he would be working as a spy for the NSA is quite odd. I made phone calls, and they have no record of him,” she said.
DeAvila-Silebi also said that Bariso “doesn’t really have a clear residence. According to him, it’s very transient. He’s not in any location for a very long period of time. He has no employment except for odd jobs here and there.
“There is a history of mental illness in the family. He may not be competent,” she added. “I consider him a flight risk, verified or not, and I’m going to send him to Ann Klein to be evaluated.”
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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