An evidentiary hearing has been set to determine if releasing Roland Mitchell Dampeer, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in April for the 2020 shooting death of U.S. Postal Service worker Sherry Ingold, one day would potentially be dangerous.
Ingold was killed while delivering mail along Mississippi 35 in Hesterville on Jan. 16, 2020.
The hearing will be held in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi in Oxford at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Dampeer will appear before U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock.
On April 22, the case came before the court for a non-jury trial. At the conclusion, the court found Dampeer not guilty in the death of Ingold, but only by reason of insanity. The court ordered that Dampeer be committed to an appropriate medical facility designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The court also ordered that a psychiatric and/or psychological examination of Dampeer be conducted, and that a report be filed with the court. The evaluation and report were to specifically address whether Dampeer is suffering from a mental disease or defect as a result of which his release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to the property of another. The psychiatric examination was ordered to be conducted within 40 days of the date of the order, which was April 27.
U.S. Attorney Paul Roberts told The Star-Herald after the non-jury trial in April that federal statue states 40 days are allowed to evaluate Dampeer and provide a written report, but he expected the process to take longer.
“I'm not sure they can do the evaluation and get the report written in 40 days. I anticipate it will take longer than that, at which point there will be a hearing to determine his dangerousness,” Roberts had told The Star-Herald. “He has got the obligation to prove he's not dangerous. If not, then he will be in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons until” he is determined not to be a danger.
