RICHARD CHICHAKLI COMPETENCY HEARING SCHEDULED

The trial judge in Richard Chichakli's Federal criminal case has scheduled a competency hearing for June 24, in the US District Court in Manhattan. He has been examined by a qualified medical professional, and a report filed, though not publicly available. Apparently there was also some issue about the examiner, regarding what connection he had to defense counsel, Mr. Dinnerstein, but that does not appear to be improper, as counsel's prior contacts with the individual were fully disclosed to the Court in a letter, which is in the court file.

It may be important to note that the Court has not yet made a ruling upon any of the defendant's post-trial motions, including a motion for a new trial. Until those motions are disposed of, Chichakli cannot be sentenced.

It is probable that any determination or finding, by the Court, that the defendant is not competent, either to assist in his own defense, or on a broader basis, will again raise the issue of whether the Government does not want certain information, detailing certain activities of Viktor Bout and Richard Chichakli, on behalf of the the shadowy American intelligence community, to be publicly disclosed at a retrial of this case.

 Was Chichakli working covertly for the United States while under OFAC sanctions ? It is assumed that much of this information is classified, but that which is not, if made known to the Court, could possitively affect a jury's impression of this defendant, and perhaps even affect the Court's assessment, favorably, for the purposes of sentencing. Is that why he has tried so hard to get in into the record ?