United States v. Mikulich, No. 12-1732 (6th Cir. 2013)
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An officer found a tool bag outside the McNamara Federal Building. Thinking it was lost property, the officer stored the bag in the building for three weeks without inspecting it. Eventually, someone x-rayed of the bag and discovered objects consistent with an explosive device. The Detroit Police Bomb Squad detonated the bag, resulting in a sizable secondary explosion. The bag containing the bomb was sold exclusively at a chain hardware store that also sold the particular timer used in the device. Investigation led to identification of Mikulich, who was charged with attempting to destroy a government building by means of explosive while creating a substantial risk of injury to a person, 18 U.S.C. 844(f)(1)–(2); using and carrying a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A) and (c)(1)(B)(ii); and possessing an unregistered destructive device, 26 U.S.C. 5861(d). Mikulich exhibited erratic behavior during his first appearance. After he was adjudged incompetent and remanded for treatment, the government requested that he be forcibly medicated with antipsychotic drugs. The district court rejected Mikulich’s argument that the government lacked a sufficiently important interest in trying him, that he faced civil confinement in the absence of criminal sanction, and that he intended to raise an insanity defense The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Mikulich did not demonstrate that any special circumstances weaken the government’s clear interest in trying him for the serious crimes of which he is accused.
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