SALEM — The long-delayed case of a former Peabody police officer charged with beating his elderly mother nearly four years ago was delayed again yesterday.

George Sideris, who is being held at Bridgewater State Hospital, was too sick to be brought to Salem Superior Court yesterday, lawyers said.

But it's unclear whether anything could have been done even if Sideris had been well enough to travel, since he's not communicating with his newest lawyer.

Sideris, 37, is facing multiple assault and battery charges in the Thanksgiving 2004 beating of his elderly mother Melpomeni, 77, in their Peabody home. The beating left his mother in a coma for weeks; she is now living in a Peabody nursing home, unable to communicate.

Sideris initially confessed, but over the past four years has claimed in court that he was tricked into confessing and that he is being set up by fellow police officers. By the time his trial was scheduled to start last year, Sideris' lawyer — the third in the case — raised concerns about his mental state. Sideris has been in and out of Bridgewater since.

Veteran public defender Lawrence McGuire was appointed to represent Sideris, but McGuire said he's been unable to communicate with his client.

"Will he talk to you?" Judge Howard Whitehead asked.

"He'll talk to me, but what he's saying doesn't make sense," McGuire told the judge.

Sideris has expressed eagerness to go to trial, but that cannot happen until he is deemed competent. And he cannot have a hearing on competency without a lawyer. Sideris believes he is mentally competent and fires any lawyer who argues that he is not.

Whitehead compared the situation to the plot in the novel "Catch 22."

Another status hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 17.