Fresno murder trial over raisin vineyard and stray cats paused over mental competency issue
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- Judge suspended Norman Vulich’s criminal case pending a mental competency evaluation.
- Vulich's attorneys requested the evaluation, saying he had not cooperated with trial preparation.
- Dr. Luis Velosa must submit his psychiatric report by May 29 for a June 4 hearing.
A Fresno County judge has suspended the criminal case against accused killer Norman Vulich, after his attorneys doubted his mental competency.
Mark Coleman and Daniel Harralson made the request Thursday saying Vulich, who was arrested for his brother’s murder in 2020, has not been cooperating in the preparation for his upcoming trial on April 27.
Vulich was charged with murder for allegedly shooting and killing his older brother, 68-year-old raisin farmer Jerry Vulich. The shooting took place on the family’s farming property near Manning and Fruit avenues, just southwest of Easton.
Harralson said his client was distraught over his big brother’s decision to bulldoze a 40-acre raisin grape vineyard to make way for almonds, a more profitable crop.
Vulich was against the move, arguing that dozens of stray cats would lose their home. On the morning of Oct. 23, 2020, the brothers confronted each other as a bulldozer was getting ready to take out the vineyards.
They argued. As Jerry Vulich began to walk away, his brother shot him with a shotgun, striking him in the back, according to testimony in a civil trial. The elder Vulich collapsed on the dusty earth.
Coleman told Judge Ryan Wells that although Vulich disagrees with the evaluation, he believes it is necessary.
“I am doing this with great reluctance,” Coleman said. “But my fear is that if we go forward, given what we know...this case would come back if there was a conviction.”
Vulich did not speak during the brief hearing. His niece Nicole Vulich, however, was in the audience and expressed her frustration over the delays.
She is the shooting victim’s daughter.
“It is a waste of time, just a waste of time,” she said outside of the courtroom. “I don’t believe he doesn’t have the ability to understand what he did.”
Prosecutor Kaitlin M. Drake also shared her frustration with the delay.
“It has been five and a half years since this happened, so yes its frustrating, but we have to let the evaluation play out in order to move forward,” Drake said.
The judge ordered that Vulich be evaluated by Dr. Luis Velosa, a psychiatrist based in Visalia. The doctor’s report is due on May 29 with a competency hearing set for June 4.
Vulich has already lost one legal battle in civil court. A Fresno County jury awarded his brother’s family $2.7 million in a wrongful death lawsuit in 2024.
