Ex-Turnstile guitarist deemed incompetent in attempted murder case

A judge on Tuesday found a former guitarist for Baltimore band Turnstile incompetent to stand trial after police say he hit his former bandmate’s father with a car.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla Smith deemed Brady Ebert mentally incompetent and said he was a danger to himself and others. Ebert, 34, was remanded to the custody of the Maryland Department of Health, and his competency will be reevaluated at a hearing on Jan. 19.

Ebert, who is charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder and other related offenses, pleaded with the judge to let him speak about his case. Smith didn’t allow Ebert to comment after finding him incompetent, but Ebert began shouting and said he had fired his attorney, Mark Sobel, during a hearing earlier this month.

“I don’t know why he is here today,” Ebert told the judge. He also said his case has been an “extreme miscarriage of justice” and accused police of illegally obtaining an arrest warrant.

Ebert continued to yell and was escorted out of the courtroom by court officers.

Sobel said after the hearing that Ebert’s behavior in court speaks to his client’s mental state.

“Hopefully, he’ll get the proper treatment for his competency to be restored, so we can proceed to trial in this case,” Sobel said.

Ebert’s father attended Tuesday’s hearing, but Sobel declined to comment on his behalf.

On Sept. 3, Judge Eric Johnson ordered Ebert to undergo a competency evaluation. During that hearing, Ebert said he was “perfectly competent” but also said he believed his attorney was working with prosecutors.

Sobel said during that hearing that he had “significant concerns” regarding his client’s competency.

In March, Montgomery County Police said Ebert swerved at William Yates, the father of Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates, in a 2001 Buick LeSabre while driving on Timberlake Drive in Silver Spring.

William Yates then threw a rock at Ebert’s car in what he told investigators was an attempt to warn his daughter and her 3-year-old son.

Ebert then backed up, accelerated and struck Yates in the driveway, causing “trauma to his lower extremities,” police said.

During an interview, Yates told detectives that Ebert had been harassing his family since his son’s band split from him. Ebert played on Turnstile’s first three albums, including the band’s breakout 2021 record, “Glow On.”

Turnstile won two Grammy Awards in February.