Defense counsel says a Bulloch County man charged in the death of his own father is not competent to stand trial.
Brandon Levon Connely was arrested in June 2024 after his father, 57-year-old Tony Connely, was shot and killed on Oakfield Drive. A spokesperson for the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute that ‘spiked.’ Brandon Connely drove himself to the Sheriff’s Office on the night of the shooting to turn himself into authorities. Warrants executed by the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office charged Connely with Felony Murder, Malice Murder, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery, and Possession of a firearm/knife during commission of a crime. A grand jury indicted him in August 2024 on the same charges.
Two months later, attorneys for Connely sought to have him evaluated by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). In the motion, attorneys said:
“Defense counsel has reason to believe the degree of criminal responsibility of the defendant is in question, whether the defendant had the mental capacity to distinguish right from wrong in relation to the alleged act, and/or whether the presence of a delusional compulsion overmastered the defendant’s will to resist committing the alleged act.”
OCGA 17-7-130 outlines a process for determining competency and the judicial proceedings which follow. If DBHDD determines the accused person is mentally incompetent to stand trial, a report is prepared and provided to the attorneys and the court, but is sealed from the public. The reports often include information and treatment plans on whether or not an accused individual can be ‘restored’ to stand trial.
On October 30, 2024, Superior Court Judge Gates Peed signed an order for DBHDD to conduct an evaluation on Connely to evaluate the degree of criminal responsibility or sanity at the time of the act. In December 2024, DBHDD filed a memo indicating that there had been a delay in receiving the order and the evaluation had not yet been conducted.
A motion was filed by the public defender’s office on March 14 for a Special Plea of Mental Incompetency to Stand Trial. This means that the court must hold a bench trial to formally determine Connely’s competency to stand trial.
The defense motion reads, in part:
“At the present time, Defendant is incapable of understanding the nature of the charges or the object of the proceedings and is also incapable of assisting counsel in preparation of a defense. Defendant respectfully requests that this special plea of incompetency to stand trial be inquired into by this Court and said plea be sustained.”
If, after a bench trial, the presiding judge determines Connely is mentally incompetent to stand trial, he can further order a doctor or licensed psychologist to evaluate and diagnose whether or not there is a probability that Connely will attain mental competency to stand trial in “the foreseeable future.” Connely would be transferred to the custody of Georgia DBHDD for further evaluation within 90 days. That evaluation would show one of three outcomes:
- Connely is mentally competent to stand trial and the court proceedings begin.
- Connely is mentally incompetent to stand trial and there is not a substantial probability that Connely will attain competency in the foreseeable future so he will be subject to a civil commitment.
- Connely is mentally incompetent to stand trial but there is a substantial probability that he will attain competency in the future period – likely in the next 90 days. He would remain in the custody of DBHDD until competency is restored.
There are no future court dates scheduled for Connely at this time.
Shortly after Connely’s arrest, the Statesboro Herald reported on his prior arrests in Bulloch County, which included a misdemeanor battery/family violence charge in 2018 and a misdemeanor simple battery charge against a person over 65 in 2020. The 2018 case was reduced to simple battery – without the family violence tag – and Connely entered a plea of nolo contendre. The 2020 case, which involved Connely striking a 77-year-old neighbor in the face with his fist, was dead docketed and ultimately dismissed.
