LAS VEGAS – A judge has ordered a competency evaluation for a Phoenix woman accused of throwing a shoe at Hillary Clinton while the former U.S. secretary of state addressed a convention audience in Las Vegas.
Alison Michelle Ernst's lawyer sought the psychological exam after telling U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen that Ernst was unable to understand charges against her and assist in her defense.
Leen last week set a July 20 date to review exam results.
The 36-year-old Ernst had been set for trial this month after pleading not guilty to misdemeanor trespassing and violence against a person charges that could get her two years in federal prison.
Assistant Federal Public Defender William Carrico suggests that Ernst might have been legally insane when she threw an athletic shoe at Clinton in April.
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