Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 | 10:12 a.m.
A judge has ordered doctors at the state's mental facility to forcibly medicate a former NFL kicker accused of shooting at the home of longtime Strip headliners Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn.
Cole Ford is charged with six counts of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon for the incident in which no one was harmed.
In January, District Judge Jackie Glass ordered the 31-year-old Ford to be taken to Lake's Crossing, the state mental hospital in Sparks, after doctors determined he was not mentally competent to stand trial.
On Tuesday, Glass granted a prosecution motion to involuntarily medicate Cole. The motion was not opposed by Cole's attorney.
During his last court appearance before being committed to Lake's Crossing, Ford began talking over Glass, saying several times, "I don't take medication."
Ford, who has repeatedly said he wants to plead guilty to the charges, could face up to 27 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
He was drafted out of the University of Southern California in 1995 by the Pittsburgh Steelers and released. He signed on with the Raiders and kicked for three seasons. Ford was cut before the 1998 season after missing several crucial kicks in 1997.
Family members in Tucson have said Ford started showing signs of schizophrenia after he left the Raiders and grew more reclusive until they lost contact with him in 1999. A civil suit filed by Ford against the Monte Carlo hotel on Jan. 28 is one reason why people are questioning his mental state.
In that lawsuit Ford was seeking $5 million from the Monte Carlo because, he wrote, by allowing people to place bets on the football teams for which he played in the 1990s the casino "acquired leverage from my works."
District Judge Valerie Adair dismissed the lawsuit.
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