AUBURN – A judge ruled Tuesday that a Lewiston woman is competent to stand trial on felony charges, including the attempted murder of her mother.

Nancy D. Jean, 55, pleaded not guilty to that charge and entered the same plea to a charge of aggravated assault stemming from the same incident.

Police said Jean confessed to the alleged crime. She was arrested in August after she allegedly hit her mother, Rita Jean, 72, in the head with a hatchet after an argument over money at their home at 4 Diamond Court in Auburn.

According to police reports, the elder Jean warded off a second blow, wrestled the hatchet away from her daughter and drove herself to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, where she received six stitches to close the head wound.

The younger Jean refused to leave her jail cell in January to attend a competency hearing at Androscoggin County Superior Court. She had refused to take her medication to treat symptoms of mental illness.

Dressed in a beige skirt suit on Tuesday, she sat quietly with her attorney at the defense table.

Justice Thomas Delahanty II set bail at $2,500 cash or $25,000 surety. If she raises the bail money, she must stay at a place that can treat her mental illness, and she must stay on her medication, Delahanty said. She also was barred from having any contact with her mother, the judge said. Otherwise, she would be confined to jail.

Margaret Morrison, a licensed psychologist contracted by the state to examine Jean earlier this month, testified Tuesday that the defendant was competent to stand trial as long as she continues to take her medication. Jean had been confined to the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta since January.

Morrison’s written report said Jean’s medical history of diagnoses included schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.

Morrison testified that Jean appeared normal at their meeting, but became agitated when the subject turned to the pending criminal charges.

Although she was aware of the charges, she was “very upset that anybody could think she could do such a thing,” Morrison said. Jean told Morrison her mother’s injuries were the result of an accident.

Jean understood legal concepts involved at trials, described the roles of various players in court and seemed to grasp legal procedure, Morrison said.

The judge asked Morrison whether Jean would need to stay on her regimen of medications to maintain her competency. Morrison said she would.

Justice Delahanty said Jean was competent and should be placed on the next available trial list. He said she could be bailed if Maine Pretrial Services was willing to supervise her release. She was released to that agency later Tuesday, a court clerk said.