Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled Monday defendant /*Lee Evans*/ is capable of understanding the case against him.
The judge denied a motion by the Essex County prosecutor's office that would've required Evans to undergo a psychological examination.
Assistant prosecutor Peter Guarino tells Newark's The Star-Ledger newspaper he filed the request to try to head off the possibility Evans would argue on appeal that he was incompetent.
Evans and a cousin are charged with luring the teens to an abandoned building, tying them up and setting the building on fire in a dispute over stolen drugs. The bodies were never recovered.
Evans and his cousin have pleaded not guilty.
