DES MOINES — A woman accused of hate crimes in the Des Moines area, including intentionally running over a girl she thought was Mexican, has been ruled incompetent for trial.
Nicole Poole, 42, is charged with assault in violation of individual rights for an incident at a convenience store and with attempted murder. Police have said she intentionally ran over two children with her SUV. Both survived.
On Dec. 30, a judge ordered an evaluation for Poole after her attorney reported that he'd only just met Poole but that he thought she was incompetent to stand trial. The prosecutors didn't fight the defense request for a psychiatric evaluation.