(January 13) -- Dr. Sally Johnson, the government psychiatrist brought to Sacramento to determine if Theodore Kaczynski is able to stand trial, spent a second day examining the man accused of being the Unabomber.

Johnson, who works at the federal prison in Butner, NC, visited the Sacramento County jail where Kaczynski is being held, and spoke to him in the jail's lineup room for several hours on Monday. Defense attorneys Quin Denvir and Judy Clarke accompanied Johnson to the jail Monday but were asked not to attend the sessions with their client. They were allowed to watch, but could not hear what was being said.

She visited the jail again Tuesday to continue the evaluation of Kaczynski.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell provided Johnson access to the transcripts of the numerous closed-door sessions held between himself, Kaczynski and the defense team, and ordered that she be given copies of the letters written by Kaczynski to the court. These documents should help provide details about the conflict between Kaczynski and his defense counsel, which he wants to drop in favor of representing himself.

Johnson will need to help the court determine if he is competent to do just that, or even to stand trial at all. She is no stranger to high-profile cases: In 1989, she found televangelist Jim Bakker able to go to trial, and in 1981, she tested attempted Reagan assissin John Hinckley, Jr. and found him competent as well.

The tests on Kaczynski continue as officials at the Justice Department in Washington consider new possible pleas by Kaczynski. The Justice Department, which rejected earlier offers that would have gotten Kaczynski to admit his guilt in return for an assurance he would not be killed, is now stuck over the issue of Kaczynski's ability to appeal certain pre-trial motions. Among them was a defense objection to the seizure of voluminous amounts of evidence from his rural Montana cabin -- much of which is crucial to proving the government's case. The government wants Kaczynski to give up any right to appeal.

However, one source told the Associated Press that no decision is expected until results from the psychiatric testing on Kaczynski are in.

Johnson has said she will provide the court with a report by Friday, though it will be sealed. The hearing to determine Kaczynski's competency is set for January 22.

What will be considered at the hearing is the federal competency standard, primarily set by a 1960 Supreme Court decision. It is based on on a defendant's ability to have a "rational" understanding of the court proceedings and the ability to consult with lawyers about the preparation of a defense. Defendants rarely fail to meet the standard, even if they are found to have significant mental faults.

Competency tests usually focus on simple questions about the trial: Does the defendant understand the charges against him or her? Who runs the courtroom? Is the prosecution for or against the defendant?

The psychiatrist is then required to inform the court of the results of the examination -- but not necessarily to decide whether the defendant is competent or not.

"Some psychiatrists will take the next step and actually offer an opinion on the ultimate legal question, some psychiatrists will not," said Paul Applebaum, M.D., chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

And it is not surprising that Johnson will review the letters written by Kaczynski to Judge Burrell and the transcripts of the meetings in Burrell's chambers. A psychiatrist making a competency evaluation will often consult with others who are dealing with the defendant, such as prison guards or family members. In this case, Johnson will almost certainly discuss Kaczynski's actions with his defense team to make sure Kaczynski doesn't mislead her, as some defendants do.

"Sometimes what they tell you is not the whole story," said Applebaum, who has administered competency exams.

Judge Burrell will also need to consider what strategies Kaczynski might use in defending himself in order to insure the trial does not devolve into a chaotic travesty, as happened in the 1995 trial of Colin Ferguson, who unsuccessfully defended himself after shooting six people and injuring 19 on the Long Island Railroad.

"You really do not want the trial to become a farce," said Richard Bonnie, director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. "That should legitimately be on the judge's mind."

The current trial will cover incidents in 1985 and 1995, as well as two bombings in 1993. A separate trial will cover charges against Kaczynski for a 1994 bombing in New Jersey.

Federal authorities believe that Kaczynski, 55, is the Unabomber, responsible for sixteen mail and package bombs that killed three people and injured 23 during between 1978 and 1995 in attacks across the country.