Mental exam ordered in hit-and-run
UI employee charged in incident at WSU
PULLMAN – An Idaho man accused of striking two Washington State University students with his car was ordered Thursday to Eastern State Hospital for a mental examination to determine if he can be released on bail.
Daniel Noble, 31, of Moscow, Idaho, was charged Wednesday with two counts of vehicular assault, two counts of hit-and-run and one count of resisting arrest.
During the bizarre court appearance, he initially refused to sit behind his desk, then asked his attorney to sing a duet, and sat with his hands in a prayer-like position.
Noble’s attorney, Mark Moorer, said it was likely Noble suffered delirium during the incident Monday, which Moorer attributed to many things, from face cream to excessive caffeine consumption.
Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier ordered Noble to undergo the evaluation at the mental hospital in Medical Lake. A report is expected Monday, and the judge will decide if Noble should remain in jail as a danger to himself and the public.
The two struck pedestrians, Neil Waldbjorn, 19, of Malaga, Wash., and Hogun Hahm, 23, of Pullman, remain hospitalized in satisfactory condition at Pullman Regional Hospital, spokesman Josh Harman said. Each suffered a broken leg, court documents said.
“With respect to the injuries (of the victims) and mental state of Mr. Noble, and quite frankly my own observations, I have some strong concerns here as to Mr. Noble’s competency,” Frazier said.
Noble’s job as a financial specialist in the University of Idaho’s Trust and Investment Office kept him up around the clock, Moorer said, so Noble drank coffee and energy drinks – enough caffeine to potentially cause him to act out of character.
“It may not have been one thing,” Moorer said. “(These things) may have all worked together like the perfect storm that caused this event.”
Noble’s wife said she noticed a change three days before the incident, Moorer told the judge.
She said Noble was not sleeping well and woke her up to ask questions in a manner “not typical of conversations they would have,” the attorney said.