The attorney for an accused killer declared mentally incompetent to stand trial is planning an insanity defense.
Corbin W. Hippensteel, 31, is charged with murder in the Nov. 27, 2023 shooting death of Alejandro Flores. Investigators say the 54-year-old victim died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head at 2630 Joseph Cox Court.
Hippensteel, a Jennings County native who describes himself as homeless, was staying with his grandfather at the time of the shooting, according to court documents. Police reports do not reveal any motive for the homicide, although the grandfather, Danny W. Sanders, said the defendant had been “ranting and raving and upset all day,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
“Sanders advised that Hippensteel has mental health issues and believed he had been drinking liquor since (Nov. 26) due to finding an almost empty half gallon,” a CPD detective wrote in the probable cause affidavit.
When taken before Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin for a Dec. 4 initial hearing, Hippensteel sat motionless – even after a deputy physically lifted the defendant by the arm from the jury box, walked him to the defense table and assisted with lowering him into his seat.
During questioning by the judge, the only response Hippensteel gave was his name. Guards told Benjamin the defendant also refused to communicate at the county jail.
Four days later, Hippensteel appeared more lucid when he was brought back before Benjamin. He walked ahead of his guards into the courtroom, and later chuckled at a comment another defendant had whispered to him.
But when defense attorney Joseph Villaneuva approached him for a consultation, Hippensteel suddenly became unresponsive again and appeared to fall asleep in his chair.
On Dec. 20, the court ordered that Hippensteel be examined by two forensic mental health professionals: psychiatrist George Parker of Indianapolis and psychologist Dr. Stephanie Callaway of Midwest Forensics Services, LLC. Parker submitted his evaluation on Feb. 5, while Callaway’s findings were received on March 11.
Two days after Callaway’s findings were filed with the court, the prosecution and defense agreed on March 13 that Hippensteel was mentally incompetent to stand trial.
He was transported on April 2 to Logansport State Hospital, when he underwent a competency evaluation that included a cognitive stress test to determine if Hippensteel has an adjustment disorder. The term refers to a form of mental instability when the body and brain have an extreme reaction to stress that affects thoughts, feelings and actions. He was brought back to the Bartholomew County Jail on July 2.
On Aug 5, Villaneuva gave the court notice that he intends to use an insanity defense for his client. At this time, the court is waiting for Parker and Callaway to complete second evaluations regarding the sanity of the defendant.
If the court determines Hippensteel’s mental health has not improved since March, he could be indefinitely committed to a mental health facility. But if Benjamin decides he is capable of standing trial, Parker and Callaway will testify on what they believe was Hippensteel’s state of mind at the time of the killing.
