Eastern Sierra News
Written by Tom Woods Monday, 08 February 2010 14:42
A new twist in the Mono County case against John Thomas Christiana, the man accused of burning the Schulman Grove Visitor Center to the ground. Christiana has been found competent to stand trial in Mono County and will serve as his own attorney.
Christiana has now been found competent in one case while he was earlier found incompetent to stand trial in Inyo County on arson charges related to the Schulman Grove Visitor Center fire and other trailhead vandalism charges. By being found not competent in April of 2009, the criminal proceedings were suspended until Christiana restores his competency.
The man also faces vandalism and burglary charges in Mono County for allegedly breaking into the White Mountain Research Station at the summit of White Mountain. Christiana has been in the Mono County Jail on these charges since being found incompetent to stand trial in Inyo County.
Christiana’s myspace blog stated that he thought the US government had planted a chip in his brain to read his thoughts. Christiana’s writings reveal that the US Secret Service informed him of the chip when he was allegedly detained by the Secret Service in Crawford, Texas in 2008.
Once again Christiana had to undergo a psychological evaluation on the charges in Mono County, but this time a judge found that Christiana fully understood the nature of the charges against him and that he was able to assist in his own defense. Christiana will do more than just assist in his own defense. Mono District Attorney George Booth reports that Christiana has chosen to represent himself with advisory counsel.
Christiana is set to be back in court on February 23rd.
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