Local News in Brief : Contractor Labeled ‘Pack Rat’ to Undergo Psychiatric Tests

A North Hollywood demolition contractor charged with a series of health code violations for filling his San Fernando Valley houses and apartments with junk was ordered Monday to undergo psychiatric testing.

Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner Alan B. Haber delayed sentencing Don Hyatt Martin, 42, on two counts of felony perjury until July 29 so the psychiatric report can be completed.

Martin, described as “a pack rat extraordinaire” by Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office, pleaded guilty last month to the perjury charges, which were filed after health inspectors investigating Martin’s property discovered he had applied for several driver’s licenses under assumed names.

Deputy City Atty. John Rocke, who is prosecuting the case, said Martin also faces six misdemeanor charges for violations of health, building and safety, and fire codes. Martin also faces two counts of violating probation stemming from his guilty plea in 1984 to violating health codes.

Martin has requested separate trials for the six misdemeanor charges, but Rocke said he would ask a Municipal Court judge to combine the counts in one trial.

Before authorities started cleaning up after Martin in January, his vast collection of junk filled 10 units of a 12-unit apartment building in North Hollywood, several North Hollywood houses and apartment buildings, and a six-acre Sun Valley parcel.

Rocke said Martin faces at least six months in County Jail on the probation-violation allegations and as much as five additional years in prison if convicted of the misdemeanor charges. Martin could also be ordered to serve up to five years in prison for the felony perjury charges when he is sentenced on July 29, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Norman Montrose.