FLORENCE, AZ — A lawyer for a Maricopa woman accused of abusing five of her seven adopted children says her competency to stand trial is in question.
Machelle Hobson's attorney told a Pinal County Superior Court judge at Wednesday's status hearing that a doctor has concluded after a psychological evaluation that she isn't competent.
The Casa Grande Dispatch reports a second doctor is scheduled to evaluate Hobson. The case is essentially on hold until the competency issue is decided.
The 47-year-old Hobson was arrested in March. She has pleaded not guilty to charges she abused some of the adopted children by pepper-spraying them, striking them with a clothes hanger and making them take ice baths.
Hobson allegedly pulled her children out of school to perform full-time in adventure videos on her YouTube channel
