A US federal judge on has ruled that Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11 attacks, was mentally competent to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself at trial.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema said she felt a report by a court-appointed psychiatrist and comments made by Moussaoui's jailers showed he was mentally competent to proceed on his own and represent himself.
However, she said she thought it was "unwise" to do so.
In April, Moussaoui stunned a hearing and announced he wanted to fire his lawyers, partly because he believed they were part of a conspiracy with the government and the judge to kill him.