Superior Court Judge Says Herczog Should Stand Trial for Murder

A Sonoma County Superior Court judge decided this morning a Santa Rosa man should be tried for the stabbing murder of his father in November.

After hearing doctors' testimony during a three-day, non-jury trial, Judge Julie Conger said 21-year-old Houston Herczog is capable of participating in his defense.

"I find him competent and I am reinstating criminal proceedings," Conger said. The judge will set a trial date Friday.

Herczog is charged with killing his father, 63-year-old Mark Kevin Herczog in the kitchen of their Parkhurst Drive home in Santa Rosa on Nov. 21. The older Herczog died at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Two psychologists who examined Houston Herczog since November determined he was competent to stand trial and a third psychologist said he is incompetent.

Outside the courtroom, Herczog's mother Madeline said she believes her son is "absolutely incompetent."

"I knew him best," she said.

She said her son's behavior changed when he suffered a concussion in a car accident the week before the murder. "I could tell he was sick and depressed," she said.

"He's always been articulate. He's definitely not himself since the concussion," she said.

She said she wanted to keep her son home, let him recover, see a psychiatrist and get on medications.

Other reports in the Press Democrat indicate that he "was stealing his mother's pills and had become addicted," according to a prison counselor.

Madeleine Herczog said her son and his father adored each other. Houston Herczog moved to his father's house after she told him to find a job or go back to school, she said.

"He is a brilliant guitar player. He played with his dad. He is like a sea change from the year before (the murder)," she said.

The younger Herczog's musical improvisations are listed on ReverbNation.com 

Mark Herczog's girlfriend at the time of his death, Georgeanne Rice, testified this morning Herczog was severely depressed and "completely despondent" and could not discuss his father's murder whenever she visited him in the Sonoma County jail.

"He can't even go near the subject," she said.

Herczog's attorney Karen Silver said her main concern about trying her client for murder is whether he has the ability to participate in his defense. She cited Rice's and the doctors' testimony that Herczog is very fragile and depressed. Silver said Herczog has a plan to commit suicide by hanging himself by his shirt.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Waner said the burden is on the defense to prove Herczog is unable to participate in his defense.

Waner said Herczog has been respectful and cooperative in court proceedings, has taken notes and had conversations with his attorney.

Waner said Herczog's current psychiatrist has recently found him alert and cooperative, and a sheriff's deputy testified Herczog "is doing okay" in the jail.

Judge Conger said there is no question in her mind Herczog is "extraordinarily fragile." She said the issue is not if Herczog understands the criminal proceedings, but whether he can work with his defense attorney.

She said at least one doctor who examined Herczog did not perform thorough evaluations but based his opinion on their conversations with Herczog.

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