Stephen Ressa, accused of killing three people by driving into pedestrians on the Strip, appears Wednesday in Justice Court. Photo by Gary Thompson.
The man accused of driving a vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians on the Strip, killing three, is legally competent, authorities said Wednesday.
Stephen Ressa, 27, appeared in the courtroom of Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron on Wednesday for a status check, and defense attorney Tim O'Brien of the Clark County public defender's office said a psychiatrist has examined Ressa.
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The psychiatrist determined Ressa is delusional, but he has been found to be legally competent, meaning Ressa understands the legal process and is able to help his attorneys.
"This guy is severely mentally ill, but he is legally competent," O'Brien said.
Ressa is charged with three counts of murder after authorities said he drove his mother's stolen vehicle into the crowd of people on the Strip near Bally's resort, killing Gordon Kusayanagi, 52, of Hollister, Calif.; Mark Modaressi, 26, of Irvine, Calif.; and 60-year-old Richard Bradford of Renton, Wash.
Authorities said the Sept. 21 incident unfolded shortly after Ressa beat his mother unconscious, then stole her car in California.
Ressa told detectives afterward that he is consumed by the idea that strangers are plotting to kill him.
"Just like everybody I see, no matter what city I go to, I just think people are trying to kill me or something," Ressa told Las Vegas homicide detectives. "Or like they're trying to attack me or plot to kill me."
But Clark County prosecutor Dave Schwartz said in an interview Wednesday that he doubts Ressa is mentally ill because Ressa has no history of mental health treatment.
"In my opinion, he was angry," Schwartz said.
Also, Schwartz said that police suspect Ressa tried to kill three other people with his vehicle on the Strip shortly before the accident.
Schwartz said witnesses have told police they were standing at a bus stop on the Strip, just south of the accident scene, when Ressa swerved the vehicle at them.
"They all had to jump out of the way," Schwartz said.
But O'Brien said Ressa's actions were not "the product of anger or drugs."
He said, "It was the product of his severe mental illness."
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for November.
