SAN FRANCISCO — From the moment hit-and-run suspect Omeed Aziz Popal walked into the courtroom Wednesday, Shonna Hall knew something had changed. "He looked different, he appeared to be himself," said Hall, the niece of a 56-year-old man badly hurt in the Aug. 29 rampage. A judge and court-appointed psychiatrist made a similar observation. After two months of uncertainty, Judge Mary C. Morgan ruled Wednesday morning that Popal, 29, is competent to stand trial. She said he understands the 40 felony charges he faces in connection with the hit-and-run spree that killed a Fremont man and injured 18 pedestrians in San Francisco. "I find Omeed Popal competent to stand trial and order that this report be filed in the confidential section of the docket," Morgan said during the brief hearing. She also reinstated Popal's criminal case — which had been suspended last month pending the outcome of the report — and ordered him to return to court on Dec. 5. He could enter a plea at that time. The judge's decision brought an end to the 2-month-old debate about Popal's mental state. During previous hearings, Deputy Public Defender Sandy Feinland appeared to be laying the groundwork for a plea of insanity when he twice asked that criminal hearings be postponed so that his client could undergo further psychiatric evaluation.