Psychological evaluation ordered for woman accused of throwing shoe at Hillary Clinton
A federal magistrate has ordered a psychological evaluation for the Phoenix woman accused of throwing a shoe at Hillary Clinton during an April speaking engagement in Las Vegas.
The evaluation of Alison Michelle Ernst, who is in federal custody, was ordered after her lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender William Carrico, filed court papers suggesting she might have been insane at the time of the April 10 incident at Mandalay Bay.
Carrico told U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen that Ernst was unable to understand the consequences of the charges against her and assist in her defense.
He said her “train of thought was disjointed” and she made little sense.
Leen last week ordered Ernst transferred to a federal facility capable of conducting the mental examination.
Ernst, 36, was arrested in Phoenix on April 14 on federal misdemeanor charges stemming from the shoe-throwing incident and transported back to Las Vegas.
The U.S. Secret Service filed a criminal complaint in Las Vegas charging her with with one count of trespassing on a restricted building or grounds and one count of violence against a person in a restricted building or grounds.
Ernst is accused of hurling a black and orange Puma cleat at Clinton while the former U.S. secretary of state was addressing a metal recycling conference at Mandalay Bay. The shoe missed Clinton, and she made light of the interruption during her speech.
Clinton is expected to run for president in 2016 on the Democratic ticket.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.
