Competency hearing scheduled for July 19

A judge will hear arguments July 19 on whether Shuvender Sem, the former Maharishi University of Management student charged in the March 1 stabbing death of university freshman Levi Butler, is competent to stand trial.

In May, a judge decided Sem was competent to stand trial. However, Sem has since replaced the public defender assigned to his case with Alfredo Parrish, a well-known Des Moines defense attorney, and Parrish’s office filed a request for a second competency hearing.

Jefferson County attorney Tim Dille said prosecutors intend to resist any attempt to have Sem declared incompetent.

In an order filed Wednesday in Iowa District Court for Jefferson County, Judge Dan F. Morrison set a hearing for 1 p.m. July 19 at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

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