New Lawyer for Dearborn Mosque Threat Suspect Roger Stockham

DEARBORN, Mich. (WJBK) - He's a California man accused of threatening to blow up a Dearborn mosque, but the case took a bizarre turn in court Friday.

Roger Stockman, a 63-year-old Californian, is accused of threatening terrorism and possessing explosives. He allegedly claimed he was planning to blow up the Islamic Center of North America in Dearborn.

Mark Haidar, Stockham's court appointed lawyer, was not in court, but had planned to request a competency hearing for Stockham. Jeffrey Schwartz, standing in for Haider, was about to make that request when Stockham objected.

"Your honor, I reject my appointed counsel. He is a Shi'ite. I am not," he said.

The hearing was delayed and a new attorney appointed for Stockham. He made a surprising revelation about his client.

"He's an Islamic convert, so he's not like an anti-Muslim. He's very outraged about the conduct in the war in Iraq, and that is really what began this," said attorney Matthew Evans.

We asked Evans whether Stockham is a Sunni Muslim.

"I don't know that. I didn't ask him that. It wasn't relevant for my purposes," he replied.

The new lawyer dropped plans for a competency hearing.

"I interviewed the client. He met all the legal qualifications of being competent, and he was insistent that he was competent. I spent a lot of time talking to him," Evans said.

Stockham's lawyer said the facts don't fit the charges and his client never had any intention of blowing up the mosque, but that he was rather on some yet undisclosed mission.

The prosecution intends to tie Stockham to the charges.

"His intention is based on statements that he made to other people and where he was arrested and what he was arrested with. We look at all that to kind of glean or infer someone's intent, and that's what we have in this case," said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Kal Najar.

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What is the difference between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims? They hold the same beliefs, but their split has more to do with politics than religion. For a closer look, check out the following link:

Religion Fact's Comparison of Sunni and Shia Islam