Federal judges on Monday ordered further mental evaluations for two men accused of breaching security in separate incidents at O’Hare International Airport and on a Chicago-bound jet in the weeks after Sept. 11.
U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras ordered Edward A. Coburn tested at a federal prison hospital in Rochester, Minn., after two earlier evaluations differed over whether he is mentally competent to stand trial.
Coburn, 31, of Fresno, Calif., broke through the cockpit door of an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles on Oct. 8, screaming that the pilots were planning to crash the jet.
U.S. District Judge William Hibbler also ordered another competency evaluation for Subash Gurung, 27, a Nepal native who is accused of carrying seven knives and a stun gun past a security checkpoint at O’Hare on Nov. 3.
Gurung’s lawyer, Piyush Chandra, said his client had a long history of mental problems and may have suffered brain damage.
