Opinion ID: 165223
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Shooting and the Charges

Text: 5 On the morning of December 12, 2001, Jason Weed calmly walked from his apartment building and, with no apparent provocation, shot and killed United States Postal Service employee Robert Jenkins as the letter carrier made his daily rounds. Tulsa police responded and quickly arrested Weed, who was found in a disoriented state several blocks from the shooting. Witnesses said Weed was acting very strangely at the time of his arrest, refusing to respond to officers' questions and singing Jingle Bells. 6 The videotape officers took of Weed's post-arrest interrogation captured his strange behavior. 1 In the video, Weed alternates between extreme laughter and anger and makes numerous unresponsive and irrational statements. At times he appears calm and coherent, and at others his behavior is erratic and his speech incomprehensible. Weed became so incoherent and agitated that officers eventually stopped their questioning. 7 Weed was subsequently charged with the murder of a federal employee and use of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1114, and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He was detained in a federal medical center pending trial and evaluated for competency at the request of both his attorney and the prosecution.