Hearing set for suspect in threat

YOUNGSTOWN — A mental competency hearing will be at 11 a.m. Sept. 7 for a young man charged with uttering a death threat against Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

That hearing will occur after results are released next week from a psychological evaluation to determine whether Richard Clark Jr., 19, of Sheridan Road, is competent to stand trial on a retaliation charge.

Clark is alleged to have told two deputy sheriffs at the county courthouse April 13 that his aunt had been arrested for contempt of court and he was going to kill the judge.

The aunt, who was charged in a disturbance in Judge Krichbaum’s court, and Clark had attended a hearing at which Judge Krichbaum resentenced Clark’s uncle.

The 19-year-old Clark, jailed under $250,000 bond since being charged in the threat, appeared in court for a brief pretrial hearing Monday before Visiting Judge Thomas P. Curran.

“If he’s deemed competent, we may be able to resolve the case” on Sept. 7, Clark’s lawyer, Kirk A. Migdal of Akron, told Judge Curran. The evaluation is being performed by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio in Austintown.

“I understand all the rules and regulations of the courthouse, your honor,” Clark told Judge Curran.

The case is being prosecuted by Steven Shandor, assistant county prosecutor.

Judge Krichbaum did not attend Monday’s hearing.