(Sept. 2, 1997) Despite the protests of the defense, government prosecutors in the Unabomber case requested the chance to conduct their own psychiatric evaluation of Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski.

In a pretrial hearing before U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell, government lawyers argued that their doctors should be allowed to evaluate Kaczynski because Kaczynski's lawyers will argue that he was too mentally impaired to commit the crimes. The government also asked that the suspected Unabomber's lawyers provide more specific details about the Kaczynski's alleged mental disease or defects.

Kaczynski's lawyer, Gary Sowarts, opposed the prosecutors' request, reportedly saying that he had given the government all the required information about his client's mental health. Sowarts also said that a government evaluation of Kaczynski would violate the alleged Unabomber's Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. (Self-incrimination refers to testimony by a suspect either before a trial or during a trial where he implies his role in a crime. The Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from requiring a suspect to provide evidence against himself involuntarily.)

While Kaczynski's lawyers have hinted that they will use a mental incapacity defense, they have not said publicy that they will use an insanity defense. The details of their mental health defense for Kaczynski are not yet known. Judge Burrell did not issue an immediate ruling on the prosecutors' request.