THE federal court will determine whether Edward Gene Worswick Richards is competent to stand trial in a hearing that has yet to be scheduled.
Richards is accused of threatening to assault and kidnap District Court of the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona.
His trial was rescheduled twice. It was originally set for Feb. 25, then moved to April 22, and later to July 29 at 10 a.m.
The case was assigned to Guam Magistrate Judge Michael J. Bordallo.
Attorney Richard Miller, who represents Richards, has filed a motion for competency determination and requested a hearing to determine his client’s competency.
Miller said a psychological examination of Richards has already been conducted by Dr. Dana Brauman, Psy.D., MSCP.
“A copy of Dr. Brauman’s curriculum vitae is attached to this motion. Dr. Brauman has issued a report that satisfies the requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 4247. A copy of her report has been submitted to chambers via email and is the subject of a separate motion to file psychological examination reports under seal. For those reasons, Defendant requests that the court exercise its sound discretion and decline to order a separate psychological examination pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(b),” the motion stated.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe did not object and joined the defense in requesting that the court refrain from ordering an additional examination.
Richards, who is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, has been charged with one count of transmitting a threatening interstate communication.
According to the indictment, on or about Nov. 10, 2024, Richards “did knowingly and willfully transmit in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another; to wit, the defendant sent an email to the United States Probation Office for the District of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands stating, ‘I just want to kill judge Ramona,’ in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(c).”
Initially, Richards was charged “with Threatening to Assault or Murder a United States Judge, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 115(a)(1)(B), and Transmitting a Threat to Kidnap Any Person or Threatening to Injure the Person of Another in Interstate or Foreign Commerce, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).”
The arrest warrant for Richards was executed on Dec. 19, 2024.
