Former Penn Law student Joseph Cho, accused of trying to kill his neighbors last January, has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for today.
Cho faces charges of attempted murder and related offenses stemming from a Jan. 31, 2007 incident in which he allegedly fired 15 shots into the door of his downstairs neighbors' apartment.
At today's hearing, a judge will decide whether to send the case to trial.
Cho was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial soon after the incident. On Jan. 16, that determination was reversed, and Cho was subsequently released from Norristown State Hospital where he had been undergoing psychiatric treatment.
He is currently in custody at Philadelphia's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.
Assistant district attorney Melissa Francis said she preferred not to comment on the case in detail prior to Cho's preliminary hearing.
Francis did say she anticipates calling both victims to testify at today's hearing.
Cho allegedly fired the shots into his neighbors' door because he believed the neighbors, two male Drexel University undergraduates, were spies because they were Indian and studying biomedical engineering.
Cho withdrew from Penn Law following the incident.
He served in the military following Sept. 11, 2001, but it is not clear whether Cho suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Peter Bowers, Cho's lawyer, did not return calls for comment. After Cho's arrest last winter, Bowers said the issue of PTSD would be explored during Cho's treatment.
