Attorney: Client insane when he killed Sikh ...

Son of Guru Gobind Singh Ji · June 17, 2003

Jim Walsh

The Arizona Republic

Jun. 16, 2003 01:00 PM

A defense attorney conceded in court Monday that in the days following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, his client shot to death a Sikh gas-station owner and committed driveby shootings at a Lebanese-owned gas station and an Iraqi man's home.

Lawyer Dan Patterson made the admission as part of a guilty-but-insane defense strategy he plans to use in the upcoming trial of Frank Roque, 43. The Mesa man is accused of gunning down Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, in retaliation for the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City and at the Pentagon building near Washington, D.C.

During his arrest, according to police reports, Roque declared that "I'm a patriot" and that he was "standing up for his brothers and sisters" in New York - declarations in a series of crimes that were universally condemned.

Roque also made numerous anti-Arab racist statements before and after the shooting spree, the police reports said.

Sikhs are members of the world's fifth leading religion, which teaches tolerance of all races and originates in northern India. Sikh men are required to where turbans and beards as an expression of their faith.

Sikhs have been confused by their attackers with Arabs in a wave of hate crimes against people of Middle Eastern and south Asian origins that followed the terrorist attacks.

A second Sikh man, Avtar Singh Cheira, 52, of Phoenix, was shot last month by gunmen who reportedly yelled, "Go back to where you come from." Cheira, a truck driver, is recovering from his injuries.

Patterson told Mar

icopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Aceto Monday morning that an acknowledgment of the basic facts as charged in Roque's indictment is required for using the guilty-but-insane defense.

"There is no disagreement on the timing of these three discrete offenses," Patterson said, but he stopped short of saying Roque's motive was hate.

Rana Singh Sodhi of Phoenix, one of the victim's brothers, said he is pleased Roque is admitting the slaying but does not buy the insanity defense.

Roque acted with premeditation, visiting the gas station before Balbir Singh Sodhi was gunned down to make sure the victim was working, Rana Singh Sodhi said.

If successful, Patterson's defense would spare Roque from the death penalty that is sought by prosecutors. Roque would be committed to the state mental hospital, where the status of his sanity would be reviewed periodically. He would be released if the panel deems him sane.

Aceto continued Roque's trial until June 30 to accommodate expert witnesses who are expected to testify. Roque was found competent to stand trial in June 2002.

Patterson wrote in a March 2002 motion that Roque has been diagnosed as schizophrenic and that he his mother was institutionalized for treatment of schizophrenia.

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