TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) — A federal judge is to decide if a northeast Texas woman accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is competent to stand trial. Shannon Guess Richardson is due in court Wednesday in Texarkana, Texas, for an arraignment and competency hearing. She’s accused of sending poison-laced letters to Obama, Bloomberg and a man who heads Bloomberg’s gun-control organization.
A federal affidavit alleges Richardson contacted authorities to try to implicate her husband in the ricin letters before being arrested herself in June.
She faces two counts of mailing a threatening communication and one count of making a threat against the president of the United States.
Richardson’s attorney, Tonda Curry, has said her client will plead not guilty.