A jury had been set to hear arguments on the competency issue, but both sides agreed to let the judge decide the matter.
You say "So, you think (insert person's name) doesn't have the competency to do their job?" The person will feel that you have heard them and understood them.
"Today, in my lay view, he does appear to be more connected to the proceedings," Judge Burns said in calling another hearing for January to rule on Mr. Loughner's competency to stand trial.
In a hearing Friday, Judge Douglas Phimister of El Dorado County Superior Court said he had concerns about Mr. Garrido's mental competency to stand trial on 29 counts of kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment.
Few question his competency to be president.
The report on Mr. von Brunn's competency to stand trial had been expected at the end of November.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said his decision to keep the competency hearing private, despite objections from an attorney representing news outlets including the Post and Courier and the Associated Press, hinged on the pervasiveness of social media and the level of attention paid to Roof's trial thus far.
Judge Garrett, who will make the competency decision, heard from only one witness today in a hearing that was expected to conclude on Tuesday or Wednesday.
On Monday, the judge, Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan, will take up the competency issue, hearing testimony from experts who have evaluated her.
Andrea Yates, the Houston mother accused of drowning her five children, got a week's reprieve before her competency hearing.
