A Colorado judge is expected to determine whether or not Robert Lewis Dear Jr - the man accused of killing three and injuring nine in a shooting at an area Planned Parenthood - is mentally fit to stand trial.
Judge Gilbert Martinez presided over Tuesday’s competency hearing and said he needed one more day to reach a decision about Mr Dear’s mental state.
The court saw testimony from a doctor who said Mr Dear, 58, suffered from delusions, including his insistence that the federal government is after him. But the Washington Post reported that a court-ordered psychological evaluation deemed him fit to stand trial. A detective also testified that Mr Dear seemed lucid during an interview and said he did not want to plead insanity.
KKTV reported that Mr Dear made outbursts during the hearing, saying that “bad things” happened to people who “made fun of Obama”. Judge Martinez did not permit Mr Dear to testify, rejecting the request of prosecutors.
Mr Dear, who called himself a “warrior for the babies” during a December hearing, allegedly attacked a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic on 27 November. Upon his arrest, documents show that Mr Dear told police that he would be “met by all the aborted foetuses at the gates of heaven and they would thank him for what he did because his actions saved lives of other unborn foetuses”.
He faces 179 charges connected to the shooting rampage, including murder, 131 counts of attempted murder, assault, burglary and criminal mischief.
The judge is expected to announce his decision Wednesday afternoon.
