Prosecutors May Fight Evidence From Kaczynski
SACRAMENTO — Federal prosecutors on Friday signaled that they will seek to bar Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski from using “mental defect evidence” in his upcoming murder-by-bombing trial.
Prosecutors indicated that their request was triggered by Kaczynski’s refusal last week to undergo a court-ordered mental examination by two psychiatrists retained by the government.
U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. scheduled a hearing on the issue for Nov. 21.
In contention is whether Kaczynski should be allowed to introduce evidence of what his lawyers have told prosecutors is paranoid schizophrenia.
Such evidence could shed light on his state of mind when he allegedly committed a string of bombings between 1978 and 1995.
Now Burrell must decide whether Kaczynski should be punished for failing to cooperate.
Kaczynski has pleaded not guilty to charges that he was responsible for four bombings.
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