(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A man from Kansas faces a possible 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of threatening to kill a Republican Rep. Jake LaTurner.
Chase Neill, 32, decided to represent himself in the trial, according to the Washington Examiner. He was saying that he was only relaying a message from God when he left a voicemail at LaTurner’s office that said “I will kill you.”
“This is not me saying, ‘I’m going to chase you down with a knife,’ or something like that,” he said.
The jury was unconvinced, so they found him guilty on Thursday, two days after the beginning of the trial. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Neill remained stoic when he was read his verdict.
The court’s decision to allow Neill to represent himself was controversial since court records showed that, previously, he had sustained a traumatic head injury, and Judge Holly Teeter was afraid that it may affect his ability to represent himself properly in the court.
According to Teeter, Neill has “a mental disease and that the mental disease renders him unable to assist properly in his defense.” Despite all of that evidence, he was still deemed fit to stand trial after a psychological evaluation.
The Associated Press reported that the height of the trial was on Wednesday when Neill cross-examined LaTurner himself.
In the exchange, Neill asked if it was reasonable to identify himself in the voicemail as the son of God.
“I thought the whole voicemail was unreasonable, especially the death threat parts,” LaTurner said.
LaTurner celebrated the conviction when he released a statement thanking law enforcement and the legal system.
“Violence and threats of violence have no place in our society,” LaTurner said.
“My family and I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s office, Capitol Police, FBI and other federal and local law enforcement officers for doing their jobs with honesty and integrity,” he added.
