Competency hearing in Brockman case sought

In May 2017, Bob Brockman emailed a friend, who also was a doctor, asking for a physician recommendation to discuss losing his sense of smell.

His wife and son, Brockman wrote, according to a court document his attorneys filed last week, "are afraid that it is an early sign of alzheimer's or dementia. I am feeling good but am having increasing memory problems."

In 2018 and 2019, Brockman — who until last month was chairman and CEO of dealership technology giant Reynolds and Reynolds Co. — consulted with physicians and specialists, who ultimately diagnosed him with symptoms indicative of Parkinson's disease or Lewy body dementia, according to a court filing. Doctors assessed Brockman's dementia as mild to moderate, according to the filing.

But his illness is progressive, his lawyers wrote in a motion filed last week in federal court in California, where Brockman, 79, faces charges of tax evasion and wire fraud. They are seeking a competency hearing to determine whether Brockman can assist in his defense. His attorneys wrote they're concerned he will not be able to do so, based on their interactions with him, accounts from his family and medical evaluations from four doctors, including neurologists.

A January hearing date has been set to consider the motion. The request filed last week does not ask a judge to decide whether Brockman is competent, only whether to hold a hearing to determine the issue.

Federal prosecutors had not yet responded to the motion as of last week, though Brockman attorney Neal Stephens wrote in the filing that prosecutors "oppose the relief sought in this Motion."

Brockman was indicted in October for what prosecutors allege was an elaborate scheme spanning two decades to evade taxes on $2 billion in income. He has pleaded not guilty.

Additional details about Brockman's health that emerged with the filing last week also raise questions about his last few years at the helm of Reynolds and Reynolds. He stepped down from the privately held company as of Nov. 6. Tommy Barras — who had been named president and COO of the Dayton, Ohio, dealership management system provider in June — took over as CEO.

A Baylor College of Medicine neuropsychologist wrote in evaluations dated December 2019 and October 2020 that were filed with the defense's motion seeking a competency hearing that Brockman's wife had "noted that he was having difficulties at work and she had to help him type all of his employee performance reviews."

Brockman's attorneys wrote in the motion that he is now "fully retired."

"For as long as he could, Mr. Brockman tried to rely on his former high intellect and decades of experience, as well as the support and assistance of his wife and business colleagues, in an effort to continue to lead or at least contribute to the business that he built," Stephens wrote in the motion. "He knows now that he can no longer do so."

Reynolds and Reynolds declined to comment last week about when the company was informed of Brockman's diagnosis, and whether he oversaw daily management of the company afterward. His attorneys did not immediately respond to questions seeking comment.

A Reynolds spokesman has declined to disclose the company's ownership structure but told Automotive News via email that "Mr. Brockman is not a share owner in the company."

Reynolds and Reynolds declined to provide more details about his ownership history. Brockman's attorneys did not immediately respond to questions.

Included in the defense attorneys' filing are letters from multiple doctors who evaluated Brockman, submitted in January 2020 at the request of defense attorneys, noting they did not believe Brockman would be able to assist in his defense against what were then potential criminal charges.

Attorneys have said Brockman has known about the government's investigation for years. Brockman's attorneys wrote in their motion last week that Brockman did not notify them about his health problems until July 2019, and "even then, he did so to ask for understanding that he may need things repeated or explained more simply; he never asked if this would have an impact on the then on-going investigation."

In evaluations, doctors noted increasing difficulties with Brockman's ability to process and retain information, according to the court filing.

Additionally, "the doctors describe the impact of Mr. Brockman's medical condition as characterized by what they refer to as 'confabulation': when asked a question, Mr. Brockman's dementia will cause his brain to fabricate information to fill in for gaps in his memory," Stephens wrote in the motion for a competency hearing.

"He will believe that the information that he is providing is correct, but it will be the result of distortions in how his brain is functioning."

Also, his attorneys said their interactions with Brockman have been consistent with those of medical professionals, observing his difficulty with such tasks as relating past information and evaluating documents.

Defense lawyers' motion for a competency hearing follows their separate request to move the case from federal court in California to Texas, closer to where Brockman lives in Houston. That motion is to be considered at a hearing Tuesday, Dec. 15.

While a change in venue would not necessarily require new prosecutors, it would transfer the case to a different judge and affect the case schedule that prosecutors and Brockman's team agreed to in California, a federal court spokesman told Automotive News in an email.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in November 2021.

Prosecutors opposed transferring the case in a filing released Monday, Dec. 7, saying in part that "having elected to hire exclusively Houston-based medical professionals, Defendant should not be permitted to force this prosecution to move to Houston as a result."