State v. McFarland

WALTERS, Chief Justice.

Bobby McFarland was charged in the brutal stabbing death of a Shoshone County man. While claiming to have no recollection of the incident, McFarland entered an Alford plea 1 to charges of second degree murder and robbery. The district court refused McFarland’s repeated requests for a psychological evaluation and imposed a sentence of life in the custody of the Board of Correction, with a minimum mandatory term of ten years’ incarceration. As discussed below, we conclude that the district court erred in refusing to order a psychological evaluation. Accordingly, we vacate…