TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The trial of a Florida couple charged with abducting their young sons and trying to sail with them to Cuba was put on hold due to the husband's mental health.
Joshua and Sharyn Hakken had been scheduled to go on trial next week, the Tampa Bay Times reported. But Hillsborough County Judge Chet Tharpe suspended the proceedings Wednesday after doctors said Joshua Hakken is insane.
Tharpe scheduled a hearing March 4 to deal with where Hakken, 36, will be institutionalized and to examine psychiatric reports on his wife, 35.
Federal authorities detained the couple in waters near Havana on a sailboat with their young sons. The boys had been with Sharyn Hakken's mother after losing custody when the couple got into trouble with police while taking their sons on a trip to Louisiana.
Sharyn Hakken's lawyers describe her as being dominated by her husband. They said the question of her sanity is still undecided.
"She's still going for further examinations," lawyer Bryant Camareno told the Times. "I do have one doctor who says she's insane, and another doctor who says that she's not. It's up in the air."
