Chinese Mar-a-Lago intruder Zhang Yujing deemed mentally competent and allowed to represent herself at trial
- US District Judge Roy Altman calls Zhang ‘quite intelligent’, says move is ‘a very bad decision’ but ‘the decision is her own’
- Zhang’s father says she has no history of significant mental illness, according to defence lawyers
A US federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Chinese woman accused of trespassing at US President Donald Trump’s private Palm Beach club would be allowed to represent herself after her lawyers found no evidence of mental incompetence.
The ruling by US District Judge Roy Altman came as Zhang Yujing, 33, faces two federal charges. Altman also appointed public defenders as “standby lawyers” so that if she has any questions or if she changes her mind they can come back in and advise her.
At Tuesday’s hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida – the first conducted in English, per Zhang’s request – Zhang’s public defender, Kristy Militello, called her client’s decision to represent herself “Ill-advised” but rational. Militello said she had spoken with Zhang at length since the last hearing, during which Zhang maintained she wanted to serve as her own advocate.
“She’s doing so rationally and it is her own decision to do so,” Militello said to the judge.
Militello also told the court that she had spoken with Zhang’s father, who said that she had no history of significant mental illness that the court should be aware of in considering her request.