U.S. Opposes Psych Test in Military Shootings Case

Federal prosecutors in Virginia are objecting to a request for a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation for a man who admitted to firing shots at the Pentagon, the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico and other military buildings.

The prosecutors say Yonathan Melaku, who faces a 25-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in January to the overnight shootings, is mentally competent to proceed to sentencing and that there’s no information to suggest he suffers from a mental disease or defect.

The government’s court filing Friday was in response to a request for a mental health evaluation from Melaku’s new lawyers, who said their own psychiatrist had determined him to be schizophrenic at the time of the shootings.

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