Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton County Prosecutor Dan Helmer, right, participates in a 97th District Court hearing on motions in the case of Evan Dixon, who is accused of committing a November murder in downtown Houghton. Dixon, seen onscreen at left, participated via Zoom, as did his attorney Karl Numinen and Gogebic County District Court Judge Anna Talaska.

HOUGHTON — Evan Dixon will undergo psychological evaluation for competency to stand trial for murder and for criminal responsibility related to his charges for a November murder in downtown Houghton.

Dixon, 59, of Houghton appeared via Zoom for the hearing on his requests in 97th District Court Friday. He is accused of fatally shooting Theron Duncan, 53, of Houghton at the Douglass House Saloon in November.

Dixon is charged with first-degree murder-premeditated, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and felony firearms, punishable by up to two years in prison.

His attorney, Karl Numinen, said police had described Dixon as “irrational” when he was taken into custody at the scene.

Although Dixon had been drinking, it was not at a level sufficient to account for his behavior, Numinen said. Testing after his arrest showed his blood-alcohol level at .07, below the legal limit.

“So the alcohol or intoxication suspicion would not be adequate to explain his mindset of being irrational, not understanding why he was in custody, not understanding how he got to be at the hospital,” he said.

Numinen said other attorneys from the firm who had met with Dixon, as well as another attorney and mutual friend in regular contact with him, agreed the evaluations are warranted.

Judge Anna Talaska granted both motions. The competency exam will likely be performed first, she said.

“Those evaluations typically go hand in hand to a certain extent, so it makes sense for the defense to request both,” she said.

Accompanying the motions, Numinen said the defense would waive the time constraints for preliminary examination and speedy trial.

No date was formally set for the next hearing Friday, but Talaska said it would likely take place in approximately 75 days.

Talaska, a district court judge in Gogebic County, was assigned to the case after the recusal of 97th District Court Judge Nicholas Daavettila, who knows Dixon and had worked with Dixon in his capacity as a lawyer. Numinen had replaced public defender David Gemignani, who also recused himself because of his ties to Dixon.

Houghton County Prosecutor Dan Helmer estimated the preliminary hearing for the case will take about half a day.