Outbursts by Terror Suspect at a Competency Hearing
Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist accused of trying to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan, repeatedly interrupted a hearing on Monday about her competency to stand trial. She declared in a series of rambling, often disjointed outbursts that she had not shot anyone and was not against the United States.
"I didn't fire any bullets," she said at one point.
"I'm really not against America. I never was. I still am not," she said later.
During the hearing in Federal District Court in Manhattan, psychological experts differed on whether Ms. Siddiqui had faked symptoms of mental illness or suffered from a genuine mental disorder, and if she was competent to stand trial.
But as the experts vied to talk about her mental state, it was Ms. Siddiqui who seemed to be most intent on getting in the first and last words, and many in between.
"I'm not psychotic — I can assure you I am not," she said in a discourse after the cross-examination of a psychologist who had concluded that she was suffering from mental illness and was not competent to stand trial.
During another expert's testimony, when the discussion turned to her not eating in prison, she interjected, "It was Ramadan, just for the record."
"Excuse me," said the judge, Richard M. Berman. She replied, "I didn't ask to come here."
Judge Berman did not rule on the competency issue on Monday, and asked for further filings from both sides.
Ms. Siddiqui, 37, was taken into custody in Ghazni, Afghanistan, last July, after she was found loitering with suspicious items in her handbag, including handwritten notes that referred to a "mass casualty attack," and listed various landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, an indictment says.
While she was being detained, the indictment charges, she picked up an unsecured rifle and fired at least two shots toward a soldier who was part of an American team of F.B.I. agents and military personnel about to question her. No one was hit; another soldier returned fire, hitting Ms. Siddiqui in the torso. She has recovered from that wound.
Ms. Siddiqui was charged with attempted murder and other charges. She has pleaded not guilty.
After a court-ordered evaluation found that she was mentally unfit to stand trial, Judge Berman ordered her sent for further evaluation. If Judge Berman ultimately finds her competent, she faces a trial in the fall; if not, there is likely to be a legal fight over whether the authorities may forcibly administer medication to try to restore her to competency, her lawyer, Dawn M. Cardi, said after the hearing.
Her client's interruptions, Ms. Cardi said, were "an example of her mental illness."
"You could see that I have no control over her, her speaking under circumstances where it is not in her best interest to speak," she said.
Prosecutors had no comment. In court, a federal prosecutor, Christopher L. LaVigne, cited findings by psychiatrists that Ms. Siddiqui was competent to stand trial. "This is malingering," he told the judge, adding, "It's Miss Siddiqui's attempt to avoid responsibility for these crimes."
Ms. Siddiqui, who studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, wore a white fabric head covering that left only her eyes visible.
Her outbursts alternated with periods of quiet, sometimes seeming to listen intently, sometimes placing her head down on her arms on the table. As the afternoon progressed, her commentary grew heated at times, as she touched on war and peace, Zionists and Jews, and her anger at being strip-searched. She occasionally even turned to address the spectators.
On the United States, she said, "America as a nation has been framed to look bad." She added later: "I want to make peace with the United States of America. I'm not an enemy. I never was."
"I didn't fire any bullets," she said at one point.
"I'm really not against America. I never was. I still am not," she said later.
During the hearing in Federal District Court in Manhattan, psychological experts differed on whether Ms. Siddiqui had faked symptoms of mental illness or suffered from a genuine mental disorder, and if she was competent to stand trial.
But as the experts vied to talk about her mental state, it was Ms. Siddiqui who seemed to be most intent on getting in the first and last words, and many in between.
"I'm not psychotic — I can assure you I am not," she said in a discourse after the cross-examination of a psychologist who had concluded that she was suffering from mental illness and was not competent to stand trial.
During another expert's testimony, when the discussion turned to her not eating in prison, she interjected, "It was Ramadan, just for the record."
"Excuse me," said the judge, Richard M. Berman. She replied, "I didn't ask to come here."
Judge Berman did not rule on the competency issue on Monday, and asked for further filings from both sides.
Ms. Siddiqui, 37, was taken into custody in Ghazni, Afghanistan, last July, after she was found loitering with suspicious items in her handbag, including handwritten notes that referred to a "mass casualty attack," and listed various landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, an indictment says.
While she was being detained, the indictment charges, she picked up an unsecured rifle and fired at least two shots toward a soldier who was part of an American team of F.B.I. agents and military personnel about to question her. No one was hit; another soldier returned fire, hitting Ms. Siddiqui in the torso. She has recovered from that wound.
Ms. Siddiqui was charged with attempted murder and other charges. She has pleaded not guilty.
After a court-ordered evaluation found that she was mentally unfit to stand trial, Judge Berman ordered her sent for further evaluation. If Judge Berman ultimately finds her competent, she faces a trial in the fall; if not, there is likely to be a legal fight over whether the authorities may forcibly administer medication to try to restore her to competency, her lawyer, Dawn M. Cardi, said after the hearing.
Her client's interruptions, Ms. Cardi said, were "an example of her mental illness."
"You could see that I have no control over her, her speaking under circumstances where it is not in her best interest to speak," she said.
Prosecutors had no comment. In court, a federal prosecutor, Christopher L. LaVigne, cited findings by psychiatrists that Ms. Siddiqui was competent to stand trial. "This is malingering," he told the judge, adding, "It's Miss Siddiqui's attempt to avoid responsibility for these crimes."
Ms. Siddiqui, who studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, wore a white fabric head covering that left only her eyes visible.
Her outbursts alternated with periods of quiet, sometimes seeming to listen intently, sometimes placing her head down on her arms on the table. As the afternoon progressed, her commentary grew heated at times, as she touched on war and peace, Zionists and Jews, and her anger at being strip-searched. She occasionally even turned to address the spectators.
On the United States, she said, "America as a nation has been framed to look bad." She added later: "I want to make peace with the United States of America. I'm not an enemy. I never was."
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