United States v. Roethle, 4:21-cr-00465

Defendant Dr. Scott Roethle is charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and 24 counts of healthcare fraud and anti-kickback violations following a 2021 indictment.
Roethle was originally represented by counsel, but fired his attorneys and elected to represent himself after a Faretta hearing at which the court found his waiver of counsel valid.
The Government became concerned about Roethle's competency due to a series of confusing and legally unrelated pleadings, including references to wild conspiracies and treason by former presidents.
The Government requested a mental competency examination under 18 U.S.C. § 4241, which Roethle opposed, filing multiple motions to dismiss and to vacate the hearing.
Roethle refused to participate in an outpatient competency exam, resulting in revocation of his pretrial release and ordering detention.
The Court now orders an inpatient competency evaluation, explicitly excluding the time taken from Speedy Trial Act calculations.

Issue	Plaintiff's (USA) Argument	Defendant's (Roethle) Argument	Held
Whether competency exam warranted	Roethle's filings and conduct show possible mental incompetency	No exam needed; pleads understanding and opposition	Court finds reasonable cause for exam, orders inpatient evaluation
Violation of Speedy Trial Act	Requested delay is necessary due to mental health evaluation	Opposes any delay; seeks dismissal	Time excluded for competency process under applicable statute
Validity of self-representation	Roethle knowingly and voluntarily waived counsel previously	Asserts right to self-represent; resists intervention	Faretta hearing confirms voluntary waiver; still relevant to competency
Pretrial release status	Refusal to attend exam merits revocation of release	Sought to maintain release, argued against detention	Pretrial release revoked; Roethle remanded into custody

Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (Supreme Court recognizes a defendant’s right to self-representation)