Weston VIDEO CNN's Pierre Thomas reports on the mental evaluation of Capitol shooting suspect Russell Weston Windows Media 28K 80K 2.6 Mb / 26 sec. / 240x180 QuickTime movie Please enable Javascript

July 24, 1999
Web posted at: 8:25 p.m. EDT (0025 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In the building where they worked to protect lawmakers and visitors, two U.S. Capitol policemen were honored with a moment of silence Saturday, the first anniversary of their deaths at the hands of a gunman found incompetent to stand trial.

There is little doubt that on July 24, 1998, Russell Weston Jr. entered the U.S. Capitol with a group of tourists, stormed a security checkpoint and killed two guards -- Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson. But questions about Weston's sanity have delayed putting him on trial.

A federal judge ruled that Weston, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and believed to be psychotic, is incapable of assisting with his own defense. In one exchange with a court-appointed psychiatrist, Weston rambled about Washington having "between 40,000 and 50,000 cannibals."

"I will put them in sour crude oil that's boiling hot," he said in the interview, videotaped at a federal prison medical facility.

Will drugs make him competent?

A trial cannot move forward until the question of competence is resolved.

"What it all boils down to is, does someone understand the nature of the proceedings against him ... and ... can they assist their lawyers in the preparation of their defense," legal expert Bernard Grimm said. "If they fail on either one, then the defendant is deemed at least temporarily for that moment, incompetent."

A court-appointed psychiatrist ruled Weston is not competent, but believes he could be restored to competency if he took anti-psychotic drugs -- something Weston refuses to do.

If he is forced to take the drugs and then convicted, Weston could face the death penalty. That's a potential turn in the case Grimm calls a "gray area in the criminal justice system."

"There are cases that support the involuntary injection or oral delivery of medication," he told CNN, "and there are cases that say it cannot be done."

A federal judge will soon rule on whether Weston should be forced to take the medication. That could set in motion months of additional litigation that could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Correspondent Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.

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