On Monday, nine days ahead of his sentencing on July 9 for the murder of his wife, William DuBois, the lawyer for ace Linux programmer Hans Reiser, filed a brief with the court saying – for the very first time since this case began – that under penalty of perjury that he think Reiser “may be mentally incompetent as a result of mental disorder or developmental disability” – not simply socially inept or perhaps mildly autistic, as he’s suggested before – and that Reiser can’t – and these are supposed to be magic words to a court – “understand the nature of the criminal proceedings or assist counsel in the conduct of the defense in a rational manner.”

The lawyer wants a competency hearing.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether DuBois is still Reiser’s lawyer since Reiser fires him every now and again.

Reiser is looking at 25 years to life for the first-degree murder of a woman whose body has never been found. When last heard from, authorities were trying to cut a deal for him to show them where he buried the body in exchange for a lighter sentence.