A Howard Circuit judge has ordered a 24-year-old Columbia man to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before standing trial on charges that he tried to kill his parents by setting their house on fire last November.
Judge Raymond Kane Jr. ordered the evaluation Tuesday after the attorney for Joseph Michael Lindenberg filed a plea of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity for the Nov. 11 blaze.
The evaluation, requested by the prosecution, will be done at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup. Mr. Lindenberg is scheduled for a Circuit Court trial April 3.
His attorney, Jeffrey Silverberg of Baltimore, said a private evaluation by a forensic psychiatrist was done before Mr. Lindenberg filed his plea. He said the evaluation supported the insanity plea.
Mr. Silverberg said that Mr. Lindenberg's parents do not believe their son intended to harm them.
"They are 100 percent, four square behind him," he said. "They are supporting him fully."
Mr. Lindenberg is charged with arson and two counts each of attempted murder and assault.
If convicted, Mr. Lindenberg could be sentenced to life in prison. If he is convicted but found not criminally responsible, he would probably be sent to a mental hospital instead of a prison.
Police allege that Mr. Lindenberg started a fire in a room directly beneath his parents' bedroom at their home in the 5200 block of Farm Pond Lane in Oakland Mills, where he also lived.
His father, Norman Lindenberg, 69, and mother, Edna, 63 -- who both were sleeping when the fire began -- escaped without injury. The fire caused about $70,000 in damage, Mr. Silverberg said.
Mr. Silverberg filed a plea of not criminally responsible on Mr. Lindenberg's behalf Jan. 23, saying that Mr. Lindenberg suffered from a mental illness at the time of the incident.
The plea says Mr. Lindenberg doesn't understand the criminal nature of the actions of which he's accused and can't act within the law -- two issues that must be proved before a judge or jury can determine if someone is not criminally responsible.
In response to the plea, Senior Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Murtha requested the court to order Mr. Lindenberg to undergo an evaluation to determine if he is criminally responsible and competent to stand trial. Judge Kane granted that request, which is typical in insanity cases.
The evaluation should be done in about 60 days.
In January, Mr. Silverberg received court permission to have a psychiatrist meet with Mr. Lindenberg twice a week for counseling at the county Detention Center, where he is being held without bail.
Mr. Silverberg said in his request that Mr. Lindenberg had been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, a mental illness often accompanied by anxiety and depression.
The attorney noted that Mr. Lindenberg has suffered from depression since his arrest. He said that Mr. Lindenberg was becoming less able to help with his defense.