The Southern California man who formerly voiced the affable “Peanuts” TV cartoon character Charlie Brown will be now be evaluated for mental competency after he screamed and cursed at a judge in a San Diego courtroom Friday.
“I hope you drop dead of a heart attack,” Peter Robbins, 58, said to Judge Robert O’Neill at what was supposed to be his sentencing for multiple probation violations, according to City News Service.
Before that, Robbins tried to withdraw a guilty plea and yelled obscenities in court. In the end, the sentencing was postponed and the judge granted the defense a request that the former voice actor be evaluated for mental competency.
That mental competency hearing is now scheduled for Aug. 14.
In January 2013, Robbins was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Ysidro for allegedly threatening and stalking his ex-girlfriend, Shawna Kern, and La Jolla plastic surgeon Lori Saltz.
Investigators said Robbins, of Oceanside, began stalking Saltz after she performed a breast enhancement surgery on Kern.
Robbins and Kern broke up following her plastic surgery. Robbins then repeatedly demanded a refund from Saltz, stalking and threatening to kill the surgeon if she didn’t pay him back for his ex’s surgery, according to prosecutors. Robbins called Kern up to 37 times in a 24-hour period saying he would kill her and her son if she didn’t give back his dog and car.
In May 2013, Robbins was sentenced to jail time and ordered to enroll in a residential drug treatment program to tackle his problems with substance abuse. He was also sentenced to probation for five years. If he violated his probation, he stood to serve four years in prison.
To prevent that from happening, the judge had a few familiar words of advice for Robbins in court in May 2013:
“If I can borrow a line from 'Peanuts,' sir, I'm going to grant [you] probation. If you adhere to those terms, you won’t go to prison. So, don’t be a blockhead,” the judge said.
Robbins didn’t follow those conditions and was recently re-arrested for probation violations, including cutting off his GPS bracelet, drinking alcohol and failing to complete court-ordered classes, said Deputy District Attorney Brenda Daly.
He faces more than three years in state prison when he is sentenced on those violations.
City News Service reported that Robbins’ Deputy Public Defender had requested a mental competency evaluation for his client. Robbins told Judge O’Neill that he wanted to fire his public defender and objected to spending more time behind bars before his profanity-laden courtroom outburst.
Robbins – who began his acting career at age 9 – was the voice of Charlie Brown for the iconic television specials "A Charlie Brown Christmas,” "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.”
