The 88-year-old white supremacist who allegedly opened fire and killed a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum last month may never actually be prosecuted for the crime.

But if he’s never prosecuted, he will likely never live another day as a free man.

Federal prosecutors charged James von Brunn with first-degree murder and weapons-related offenses, and they could still charge him with a federal hate crime. But von Brunn has yet to be arraigned on the current charges because, according to prosecutors and his lawyer, he is physically unable to appear in court for his initial appearance.

Von Brunn was recently transported to United Medical Center (formerly Greater Southeast Community Hospital) in Washington, where the Department of Corrections has a secure ward for alleged criminals with “serious medical problems,” according to von Brunn’s attorney, public defender A. J. Kramer.

Von Brunn “is not able to come to court yet,” Kramer told a federal judge this morning, marking the fifth consecutive hearing in which von Brunn was unable to appear in court due to his medical condition.

Von Brunn was shot in the face by another security guard at the Holocaust museum. As of June 23, von Brunn was in “stable condition.”

He is currently unable to walk, and he has some sort of tube going into his neck, Kramer said. It’s unclear whether that tube is a ventilator.

Kramer said von Brunn is able to “respond” and can hear, but he can only talk “sometimes.” Asked whether von Brunn is “lucid,” Kramer said, “I wouldn’t go that far.” In fact, Kramer said he has yet to discuss what happened at the Holocaust museum with von Brunn.

“We haven’t gotten anywhere close to that point,” Kramer said.

The next hearing in the case has been set for Thursday, July 30. According to prosecutors, the end of July is when von Brunn “would possibly be able to be transported to court.”

But no one knows when – or if – von Brunn will actually be arraigned. Asked whether the case will be able to go to trial, considering von Brunn’s age and medical state, Kramer said, “Seriously, I have no idea.”

Until von Brunn can be arraigned, he will be held without bond and locked in a hospital ward.