Former VCU Police Chief Willie Fuller has been declared mentally incapable of standing trial in a felony sex crime case. All three felony charges were dropped Thursday afternoon.
Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge Ernest Gates ruled that Fuller, who apparently suffered a diabetes-related stroke in early June, is mentally incapable of standing trial. Fuller’s attorney, Arnold Henderson, presented a letter in front of the court addressing Fuller’s medical status.
According to a letter from Dr. Sultan Lakhani, the associate medical director of inpatient psychiatry for VCU Health System, Fuller was diagnosed as suffering from dementia, delirium and significant amnesia.
Under nolle prosequi, the charges against Fuller were dropped in consideration of his medical condition. However, the charges can be reinstated if Fuller’s condition were to improve.
Fuller was arrested Jan. 28 while he was still VCU’s acting police chief. Fuller allegedly attempted to solicit sexually explicit pictures in a chat room from an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl. Fuller allegedly used the screen name “Hotcop2006,” and was charged with two felony counts of attempted indecent liberties with a minor and two counts of using an electronic device to solicit sex from a minor.
In early June, Fuller was found lying in a parking lot near his Henrico County apartment by a neighbor after suffering what is believed to be a diabetes related stroke. According to the letter presented in court, Fuller has been under 24-hour care at VCU Health Systems ever since, and currently resides in its psychiatry inpatient unit while he awaits placement into an assisted living facility.
Repeated phone calls to Henderson were not returned. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney J. David Rigler, the prosecutor in the case, declined to speak on the phone. According to his secretary, Rigler said he had “absolutely nothing to comment on” in regards to the case.
“He’s not going to shake this off,” Rigler told Style Weekly of Fuller’s medical condition. Style published the quote in a Sept. 10 Web story.
According to Style Weekly, Henderson expressed doubt about Fuller making a full recovery. “Short term is good,” Henderson said. “Long term, I don’t know.”