RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal judge appears ready to take another look at a North Carolina man previously declared mentally competent to stand trial on a charge that he sought to join an al-Qaida-linked militant group in Syria.
U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle scheduled a competency and commitment hearing for Basit Sheikh of Cary for Wednesday. In June, Boyle declared Sheikh mentally competent to stand trial.
Sheikh's defense attorney last year sought the evaluation because he said Sheikh may be mentally incompetent to help his defense.
Sheikh is charged with providing material support to a terrorist group. He was arrested in late 2013, an early target in an FBI effort to arrest Americans expressing interest before they could join terrorist groups fighting in the Syrian conflict.
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