05/13/08

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ The federal death penalty hearing for Joseph
Edward Duncan III will be delayed again while Duncan undergoes
additional mental evaluations, a judge has decided.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ordered the additional
evaluation on Tuesday. The court is trying to determine if Duncan
is competent to represent himself in his sentencing hearing for the
2005 kidnapping and abuse of Shasta and Dylan Groene and the
slaying of Dylan.

Most of the recent filings in the case have been kept under seal
by Lodge, and the attorneys are under a gag order. Duncan has
already been evaluated by a Boise-area psychiatrist, and it was not
immediately clear why the additional mental evaluation was needed.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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