SAN DIEGO -- A parolee accused of stabbing a couple in Hillcrest a year ago for no apparent reason pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday.

Jared Jacobson, 31, is charged with two counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

Two court-appointed doctors will be assigned to examine Jacobson and determine if he was insane at the time of the Feb. 4, 2007, attack, said Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel.

If Jacobson is convicted and found to be insane, he could be sent to a state mental hospital, the prosecutor said.

If the defendant is found guilty, as well as sane at the time of the assault, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

At the time of the stabbings, Jacobson was on parole for assaulting a police officer, prosecutors said.

The defendant's court appearances last year were marked by outbursts and his refusal to talk to his attorney.

Caroline Stewart testified at a preliminary hearing last year that she and her husband were walking near Washington and Fourth Avenue when she heard yelling and saw a stranger run past them.

The witness said the man pivoted and turned toward her and her husband. Stewart said the man appeared to be angry at them, started screaming very loudly and either pushed her or she fell to the ground.

The woman said hit her jaw but got up immediately and saw Jacobson attacking her husband, Donald.

She said she saw blood "shooting off" her husband's body, and was screaming for someone to help save his life.

When a number of people gathered, Jacobson sat down on a curb and smoked a cigarette, waiting for police to arrive, she said.

San Diego police Officer Edmund LaVelle testified that Jacobson was mugging for television cameras at the scene while sitting in the back of a police car.

On the way to the police station, Jacobson began singing and making bizarre statements, LaVelle said.

"He said, 'Is the county going to put up with me now after what I just did?'" LaVelle testified.

Judge Charles Rogers scheduled a status conference for April 2.