Duncan Getting Mental Evaluation Before Death Penalty Proceedings

A federal judge is ordering a confessed child killer to be mentally evaluated before he can act...  More »

A federal judge is ordering a confessed child killer to be mentally evaluated before he can act as his own lawyer. The judge in Boise, Idaho, indicated that he'll likely grant Joseph Duncan's request to defend himself in death penalty proceedings. But he wants to review the psychologist's report first. Duncan told the judge that he likes his attorneys, but knew they couldn't ethically represent his ideology. The former Fargo man didn't elaborate on what he meant. Late last year, Duncan pleaded guilty to 10 federal charges in the 2005 kidnapping of two children and the killing of one of them, a 9-year-old boy, at a Montana campsite. Three of those crimes can carry the death penalty.  « Less