GALLIPOLIS — A court order for mental evaluation followed the recent entry of a not guilty plea by reason of insanity in the Common Pleas Court of Gallia County.

Sabra L. Clark, 23, Vinton, through her defense counsel, Charles H. Knight, filed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on January 7 with the Gallia County Clerk of Courts office.

The defendant previously pleaded not guilty to one count of felonious assault, a second degree felony, for allegedly causing physical harm by means of a butcher knife to William Hatten last November.

Her bond, as continued from Gallipolis Municipal Court, was set at $100,000, 10 percent, a bond that was posted for her release from the Gallia County Jail last year.

Clark was taken into custody by Gallia County sheriff’s deputies at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 19 after officers were dispatched to her residence at 1196 Tick Ridge Road in reference to a possible stabbing.

As previously reported, upon their arrival on scene, deputies observed a female subject holding her left arm behind her back exit the mobile home belonging to Clark.

After several commands were given by the officers, the subject, later identified as Clark, stopped at the front of the deputies cruisers and complied with their orders.

The suspect reportedly had dried, smeared blood on the left side of her neck, on her left arm and on both of her calves.

Clark told the deputies that Hatten, 33, Bidwell, who was subsequently identified as the victim, had grabbed her by the throat and had cut himself on a table in the residence. She later told the officers that he had cut himself after he had exited her home.

The report further indicates that the suspect had no signs or marks of assault on her throat.

The suspect, who was taken into investigative custody at that time, later gave deputies permission to search the residence.

The officers, after entering the mobile home, discovered droplets of blood on the kitchen floor, on the living room carpet, on a couch, as well as on a glass table.

A blood-stained towel soaked with bleach was also found in a bedroom of the residence along with two butcher knives with dried blood on their blades in the kitchen sink.

Hatten, who had escaped to a neighbor’s house to call for help following the alleged assault, was taken to the Holzer Medical Center emergency room by Gallia County EMS for treatment for severe lacerations.

The victim told deputies that he and Clark had been drinking the evening of the incident, and, according to his statement, while he was lying on the couch in Clark’s resident, the suspect charged at him with a knife in each hand, cutting him and attempted to stab him.

He later escaped the home and ran to a neighbor’s residence to seek assistance.

Clark was arrested and made an initial appearance before Gallipolis Municipal Court Judge Margaret Evans on November 21 and her bond was set at $100,000, 10 percent secured.

Bond, in the amount of $10,000, was posted for her release on November 26.

The municipal court charges were later dismissed as the case against Clark was taken directly to grand jury.

An indictment stipulating a felonious assault charge was filed with the clerk of courts on December 13 along with a summons to appear for arraignment on December 21.

The defendant subsequently pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

On Tuesday, a journal entry signed by Common Pleas Judge D. Dean Evans was filed, ordering the evaluation of the defendant.

The entry stipulates that the Forensic Diagnostic Center of District Nine, a forensic center designated by the Department of Mental Health, will “examine the Defendant to determine the Defendant’s mental condition at the time of the commission of the offense(s) which she is charged.”

According to the entry, the examiner, who will, at his or her discretion, perform the examination either at the Gallia County Jail or the Forensic Diagnostic Center of District Nine, Byesville, Ohio, shall then submit a written report of the examination to the court no later than 30 days following the date of the order.

This report, as defined by the court, shall “state the opinion of the examiner as to whether at the time of the commission of the offenses the Defendant did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of her acts.”

As a result of the posting of this entry, the speedy trial limitations were waived and bond in this case was continued.