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SALT LAKE CITY — A competency review for a woman accused of leaving her newborn baby in a trash can has again been rescheduled.
Alicia Marie Englert, 23, appeared in the crowded courtroom for a matter of moments Monday as prosecutors confirmed that a miscommunication earlier this year continues to halt progress on the Kearns woman's competency review. Officials are again looking at the case and a new competency hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 21.
Englert was charged last September with attempted murder after police say she secretly gave birth in her parents' home, neglected the infant for two days, and then abandoned the newborn girl in a neighbor's trash can on her way to work. The child lived after a woman walking through the neighborhood heard the baby's cries and called 911.
Englert was found incompetent to stand trial on the first-degree felony charge earlier this year. Since then, treatment has been ordered in the hopes of restoring mental competency to be able to assist in her legal defense and answer to the charges. She returned to court earlier this month, but the hearing was delayed when it was found the report wasn't ready.
Related:
Woman accused of dumping newborn found incompetent for trial
A judge on Monday ruled that a woman accused of giving birth in her basement and putting her newborn daughter in a trash can two days later is not competent to stand trial.Englert was accompanied to the brief hearing Monday by her parents, who stayed on either side of her as she hurried in and out of the courtroom. Robert and Tammy Englert have contended since their daughter's arrest that the 23-year-old woman didn't understand what she was doing when she allegedly gave birth and then disposed of the baby. The couple says Alicia Englert has "special needs" and "doesn't process things correctly."
Earlier this year, an attorney for Robert and Tammy Englert said the couple hopes the charges against their daughter will ultimately be dismissed. Alicia Englert and her parents did not answer questions as they left the courthouse Monday.
