Unusual Competency Debate Surfaces in White House Shooting Case. “The man accused of firing shots outside the White
House last month pressed a judge to let him stand trial. A federal
prosecutor argued the accused, Robert W. Pickett, should be sent to a
prison hospital.” He finds a finite prison sentence — he faces 25 years — preferable to an indefinite hospital commitment. The defendant reportedly has a history of mental illness but he and his defense attorneys insist that there is no basis for the judge to require a competency hearing. There are suggestions that, by waving a gun at federal agents outside the White House, he was trying to get law enforcement officers to kill him. APB News