Court records show the man accused of threatening to kill Congressman Scott Taylor is in custody at a federal medical center in North Carolina. Officials believe Wallace Godwin still needs a mental evaluation.
Authorities said Godwin visited Virginia Beach Representative Scott Taylor's office in March and threatened to kill Taylor and two of Taylor's staff members.
The 69-year-old sent a judicial misconduct allegation to the federal court clerk about the incident. It reads: "the Judge and capital police are making it the above-stated case a criminal case when the case is merely a political issue."
Godwin accuses authorities of violating his freedom of speech rights, due process rights, right to a speedy trial and to be innocent until proven guilty.
A judge has ordered staff at the federal medical center to keep Godwin committed for further evaluation. He wants the director to determine: "whether to certify that the defendant currently suffers from a mental disease or defect such that his release "would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to the property of another."
That commitment order was entered a few weeks ago, but there haven't been any new documents since then. Generally speaking, though, just because there isn't another docket entry in the system, doesn't mean the judge has not received new information.
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