Hearing for alleged shooter delayed

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MONTREAL, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A court in Montreal delayed its determination of whether a man accused of an election night shooting at a political rally is competent to stand trial.

The psychiatric evaluation of Richard Henry Bain was postponed until the new year Monday after the court was informed he refused to cooperate with a doctor at Montreal's Pinal Institute who addressed him in French. Another doctor will evaluate him, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Bain faces 16 charges in connection with a shooting Sept. 5 at a Parti Quebecois victory rally, at which technician Denis Blanchette was killed and a colleague seriously injured.

Bain told the court Monday he was a "Christian soldier" and that Canadians would not surrender to "evil separatists."

The initial evaluation was ordered at a hearing 10 days ago, when Bain interrupted the proceedings with outbursts, the CBC said.

His court-appointed lawyer, Elfriede Duclervil, said it was next to impossible to build a successful defense for he client because he does not answer her questions rationally.