A 26-year-old Irishman facing sentencing for armed robbery in the US has submitted a request for his guilty plea to be changed to not guilty by reason of insanity.
The judge in his case has granted a motion to have Niall Clarke psychologically assessed.
Mr Clarke has been awaiting sentencing for carrying out an armed robbery of a bank in Bangor, Maine, last October.
He faces a minimum of seven years in prison and a maximum of 25 years.
Mr Clarke is originally from Kilrush, Co Clare and is an award-winning computer studies graduate from Trinity College.
His defence team has argued that he was unable to 'appreciate the nature and quality of the wrongfulness' of his crime as he was mentally unwell at the time.
A psychiatrist hired by the defence also questioned whether Mr Clarke was mentally competent when he pleaded guilty.
The judge in the case has now consented to a mental evaluation to be carried out by a government psychiatrist.
It is expected that it will take another two months before the judge will schedule a hearing on the change of plea motion.
Mr Clarke is currently being held at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, Maine.
