(January 20) -- Theodore Kaczynski has been found competent to stand trial.

Both sides in his trial agreed not to contest the findings from federal prison psychiatrist Dr. Sally Johnson, who spent last week evaluating the mental state of the man suspected of being the Unabomber.

Johnson's report, which was under seal, apparently indicated that she believed that Kaczynski was able to participate in the trial process to a sufficient degree for his trial to continue.

However, the question of who would represent him was not immediately answered. That issue could be addressed at today's hearing or at a hearing on Thursday, when a ruling is expected. Burrell also indicated he would like the trial proceedings to resume on Thursday morning.

Kaczynski has indicated he wants to represent himself. U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell initially rejected that request, but later indicated he might consider it if Kaczynski was able to pass a set of competency tests. Kaczynski also asked to be represented by San Francisco lawyer Tony Serra, a request Burrell also initially rejected.

However, signs of a possible shift in attitude by Burrell were noted last week, when Burrell contacted Serra to see if he would be available for trial. Kaczynski asked the court on January 7 if he could dump defense lawyers Quin Denvir and Judy Clarke in favor of the eccentric Serra, who inspired the the 1989 film, "True Believer." At the time, Burrell rejected Kaczynski's request.

Prosecutors, who previously fought against a change in defense attorneys, argued last week that the trial should go ahead with the present team in place -- but acknowledged they would prefer a delay in trial to select new lawyers to Kaczynski representing himself.

The judge acknowledged in papers that he may address their concerns today and voiced in court some dissatisfaction with the fact that Kaczynski has repeatedly disrupted trial proceedings with his protests.

"It appears that you have wasted the judge's time, you intererfered with the orderly administration of the judicial process and you even may have engaged in action that delays justice," said Burrell.

Burrell also seemed to be leaning away from allowing Kaczynski to represent himself.

Kaczynski requested to serve as his own counsel on January 8 after requests to switch lawyers were turned down by Judge Burrell. He has been battling with his defense lawyers for a number of months over their plan to use a mental defect defense.

The hearing today could also address an issue raised by the judge last week when he indicated he wanted both sides to comment on certain issues relating to Kaczynski's defense. The judge acknowledged that his request focused on meetings held in his chambers in December, when Kaczynski expressed his dissatisfaction with his defense team, but he would not elaborate.

"Since it's not public yet, that means that the defense has opposed making this particular matter public," he said last week.

Burrell also indicated today that he may hold Kaczynski to an earlier arrangement: the trial would go on with the original defense team, provided they stick to a December agreement not to use expert testimony about Kaczynski's mental state.

Meanwhile, his embattled defense team asked the court today to force the government to reveal the location of a reported second "secret shack," another sparse retreat apparently described by Kaczynski in his journals. He wrote that he built it in order to have "at least one place where I can still feel sure of privacy."

The defense could not find the second cabin, but said in court papers they were told last week that the government had discovered its location. The government has not officially acknowledged such a discovery, and one government source said that if any such evidence had been discovered as part of their investigation, it would likely have been mentioned in the 1996 affidavit which outlined much of the evidence against Kaczynski.

Prosecution spokesperson Leesa Brown said prosecutors would file a response to the defense request. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for tomorrow.

Additionally, officials at the Sacramento County jail took Kaczynski off suicide watch over the weekend and returned him to his eighth-floor cell. He had been placed on a constant watch in the psychiatric ward after an apparent suicide attempt on January 8.

It will be Burrell who will have the final say about Kaczynski's ability to stand trial -- and about who will represent the former Berkeley math professor. Because Kaczynski faces the death penalty if convicted, the judge's freedom to rule on this latter issue may help prevent Kaczynski from unwittingly being sentenced to death.

However, Kaczynski's right to self-representation is constitutionally protected, and the judge will need to be extremely careful in his reasoning when it comes to any decision about Kaczynski's lawyers.

"Burrell may be forcing the attorneys on Kaczynski in a way that's legally questionable," said Joshua Dressler, a law professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento who has been sitting in on courtroom proceedings. "Judge Burrell has decided that the train's leaving the station on 10 A.M. Thursday, and he doesn't seem to care as much as he did in the past about where that train's going to end up."

His decisions could hinge on the December conversations held in his chambers with Kaczynski and his lawyers. At that time, Kaczynski agreed to continue with his defense team, provided they did not call expert witnesses to address the issue of Kaczynski's apparent mental illness. Burrell will need to make sure that when Kaczynski agreed to the December arrangement, he understood exactly what his lawyers were able to do.

They gave up the right to expert testimony, but kept the right to call lay witnesses, such as Kaczynski's friends or family, to testify about Kaczynski's mental state. It is an oft-missed legal subtlety, and if Kaczynski misunderstood his lawyers' intentions, it could be a primary issue in appealing a possible conviction.

"It's certainly a risk, unless that transcript from December is very clear," said Dressler.

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.