Notorious Halifax criminal Jimmy Melvin, Jr. needs a psychiatric assessment because his mental condition has "deteriorated" due to long periods of segregation while in custody, his lawyer said Monday.

"I have serious concerns about getting instructions from my client," Patrick MacEwen said Monday during a court appearance by Melvin.

Melvin, 33, has been in custody since July, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Terry Marriott, Jr.

Marriott was found dead in a bungalow on Whitehead Road in Harrietsfield in February 2009.

MacEwen said Melvin's ability to communicate with him "has deteriorated as a result of spending 135 days in prison segregation." He is currently housed in the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Pictou where he's also been on suicide watch, the lawyer said.

It's the second time this month he's asked to have his client assessed at the East Coast Forensic Hospital, he said.

On Nov. 20, Judge Timothy Gabriel ordered Melvin to undergo a 30-day psychiatric examination, but that never happened, MacEwen said.

Jimmy Melvin Jr. (CBC)

"These things are not optional," Halifax provincial court Judge Patrick Curran said Monday, advising MacEwen to return to Gabriel's court to deal with the matter.

Melvin was joined in court Monday by Regan Taylor Henneberry, 32, who was recently charged with attempting to kill Marriott in 2008.

Also in court was Vanessa Delorey, a one-time love interest of Melvin's, who is charged with possession of stolen tools in another incident involving Melvin.

Henneberry is charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the Dec. 2, 2008, attempt on Marriott's life in Harrietsfield. He is set for a bail hearing in that case on Dec. 3.

Melvin is due back in court Tuesday for a status report on his murder case.