WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal prosecutors in Virginia are objecting to a request for a psychiatric evaluation for a man who admitted to firing shots at the Pentagon and other military buildings.
The prosecutors say Yonathan Melaku, who in January pleaded guilty to the overnight shootings in northern Virginia, is mentally competent for sentencing. They say there's no indication that he's suffering from a mental disease.
Melaku's new lawyers asked this month for a court-ordered mental examination.
They said their own psychiatrist had concluded that Melaku was schizophrenic at the time of the shootings. But prosecutors noted in court filings Friday that the same doctor said Melaku was able to understand the court case against him and participate in his defense.
Lawyers for Melaku didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
