Roundup: Colorado Springs shooter continues courtroom theatrics

The gunman in Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic shooting continued his courtroom theatrics here Wednesday by refusing a psychiatric evaluation and demanding to defend himself.

Robert Lewis Dear, Jr. 57, announced in court two weeks ago he was guilty of killing three and wounding nine others by gunfire in a Nov. 27 attack at the abortion clinic in Colorado Springs city.

He has been charged on 179 counts, including six counts of first-degree murder and 131 counts of attempted murder.

In his second court appearance on Wednesday, Dear demanded to defend himself and Judge Gilbert Martinez ordered a competency hearing.

That order will delay the trial by several months, with the next hearing scheduled for Feb. 24.

The prosecution, who has not yet announced their expected death penalty quest, objected to the delay.

Dear, shackled and dressed in a turquoise prison jumpsuit, then interrupted proceedings several times, as he did on Dec. 9 with paranoid remarks and references to the Aurora theater mass murder trial last summer.

At that trial, mass murderer James Holmes, who killed 12 and injured 70 in 2012, was drugged heavily and barely responsive.

"The doctor will ... make me a zombie," Dear said to the packed courtroom, adding he would refuse to cooperate in such an examination.

In his first appearance in court, Dear called himself "a warrior for the babies," saying people wanted to drug him, and people were hiding "the truth."

Dear openly disliked President Barack Obama, had charges filed against him for animal cruelty and "lewd" acts, and lived by himself in remote, mountainous areas, without electricity, according to media reports.

"See if there's any drugs that have been put into my system while I've been in jail," Dear blurted out Wednesday, saying he had been poisoned in jail and asking the judge to test his hair for traces of drugs.

Police said Dear opened fire with an automatic rifle outside the Planned Parenthood clinic a month ago, then barged inside, killing two people in the waiting room.

Ironically, the most notable victim in the mass murder was an all-American police officer, whose conservative church apposes abortion, an identical position held by Dear, as revealed by his "anti-abortion" statements in court.

Garrett Swasey, 44, a former national figure skating champion, left behind two young children, as did Iraqi war veteran Ke'Arre Stewart, 29, and Hawaii-native Jennifer Markovsky, 35.

Dear's legal team -- some of the top anti-death penalty lawyers in the country including Daniel King -- also represented Holmes.

But Dear wants to fire them and represent himself despite the judge's warning Wednesday to Dear that what he says can be used against him, and to trust his lawyers. Endi