FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Lionel Tate is determined to be competent and a hearing on whether he violated his probation can go forward, a judge ruled Monday.

Tate was scheduled for a hearing earlier this month, but it was postponed after he wrote a letter to Judge Joel Lazarus saying he was hearing voices and was thinking about committing suicide.

But two psychologists who interviewed Tate, known best for his conviction in a so-called "wrestling death," told Lazarus that Tate is faking.

"He would bring his right hand up to his ear, he would slap his ear, and he would bring his fist up to the eyes and then he would go (and turn his head and say), 'Stop,' to demonstrate that there were voices," said Dr. Trudi Garfield. "Yet that's totally inconsistent with any genuine presentation of someone who has auditory, hallucinatory experiences."

Tate was convicted of killing a playmate when he was 12. He was the youngest person to be sentenced to life in prison in modern American history.

That conviction was thrown out on appeal and he was later released after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Tate first claimed that he accidentally killed Tiffany Eunick, 6, while imitating wrestlers he had seen on television.

Tate, now 18, was out on parole in May when authorities said he robbed a pizza delivery man, a violation of his probation.

Attorney Ellis Rubin said another prisoner, who is described as a "jailhouse lawyer," wrote the letter for Tate. He apparently told Tate claiming insanity would be the best way to get off the hook.

Rubin is Tate's fourth attorney. He has made a career defending controversial and notorious clients.

Tate could be sentenced to life in prison if he is found guilty of violating the terms of his probation.

Lazarus said the hearing for the robbery would be held Feb. 27.