It’s been nearly 2 years since the suspect in the brutal attack of 78-year-old Mary Grace Tassone of Grass Valley has been at a mental hospital in Napa. But Nevada County District Attorney Cliff Newell says he’ll get an update soon. He says the attorney for 52-year-old Alan Sorensen, who was arrested on attempted murder charges in July of 2015, questioned Sorensen’s mental fitness early on in the proceedings…

click to listen to Cliff Newell

Newell says a status proceeding has been scheduled for January 9th. Sorensen was transferred to Napa State Hospital at the end of December, in 2015. Newell says it’s always hard to say whether mental fitness can be restored, that cases vary in many ways…

click to listen to Cliff Newell

Tassone was in a coma for a period of time after the attack that occurred outside St. Patrick Church, where she was a volunteer. Her recovery has been slow.