Robert Dear, the man charged in the 2015 shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood, will be medicated “as soon as practicable” after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a 2022 ruling that ordered his forced medication so he could stand trial.
Thursday’s ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn said the antipsychotic treatment plan devised for Dear may be enacted “involuntarily and forcibly, if necessary” now that the appellate process has concluded.
A procedural purgatory of appeals has dogged the case for nearly a decade. Dear has been repeatedly found mentally incompetent to stand trial for the shooting, which left three people dead and nine others injured. Prison psychologists have argued medication for Dear’s delusional disorder diagnosis could make it possible for him to participate in his defense.
Blackburn’s original 2022 forced medication ruling was appealed by the defense to the 10th Circuit Court, suspending any forced medication of Dear. Last June, the 10th Circuit affirmed Blackburn’s order to forcibly medicate Dear. Then, another hold on the move was put in place while his legal team tried a last appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear that appeal.
Dear is accused of entering the Colorado Springs clinic on Nov. 27, 2015, with multiple firearms and shooting people both inside and outside the building. He is facing 68 charges in his federal case, including weapons charges and using violence to prevent others from receiving reproductive health care services. Those charges add to his 179 at the state level.
Court documents from the prosecution say Dear intended to "wage war" on the clinic because it offered abortion services. He was armed with a dozen guns, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, and several propane tanks.
It’s unclear when a trial for Dear might begin, but the judge has ordered a status report on the forced medication by June 30.
