Attorney wants Planned Parenthood shooter in mental hospital

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2015 file photo, Robert Lewis Dear, middle, talks during a court appearance in Colorado Springs, Colo. A defense attorney for Dear, who acknowledges killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic, asked a judge to commit his client to a psychiatric hospital for treatment but did not reveal whether a mental health exam found him competent to continue with his criminal case, on Thursday, March 24, 2016. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, Pool, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2015, file photo, Colorado Springs shooting suspect, Robert Dear, right, appears via video before Judge Gilbert Martinez, with public defender Dan King, left, at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. A defense attorney for Dear, who acknowledges killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic, asked a judge to commit his client to a psychiatric hospital for treatment but did not reveal whether a mental health exam found him competent to continue with his criminal case, on Thursday, March 24, 2016. (Daniel Owen/The Gazette via AP, Pool) (The Associated Press)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A defense attorney for a man who acknowledges killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic has asked a judge to commit his client to a psychiatric hospital for treatment but didn't disclose the findings of a mental competency evaluation.

Judge Gilbert Martinez made no ruling on whether 57-year-old Robert Dear is competent to continue with his criminal case and set an April hearing on the issue.

Dear is charged with 179 counts of crimes stemming from the Nov. 27 shooting that also injured nine.

In previous courtroom outbursts, Dear declared himself a "warrior for the babies" and said he was guilty.

Martinez ordered the competency exam after Dear said he wanted to fire his public defenders and represent himself.