Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 16:40:43 GMT -5
Waco judge rules death row inmate not retarded
With no evidence offered other than an unsworn affidavit from a
psychologist in Puerto Rico, a state district judge in Waco determined
Monday that death row inmate Ramiro Rubi Ibarra is not mentally retarded
and thus eligible for the death penalty.
For the second time in two months, Ibarras attorney, Gregory J.
Kuykendall, asked 54th State District Judge George Allen to postpone the
hearing, claiming he lacked the funds and time to adequately prepare for
the hearing.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case back to Allen in
November 2004 to determine Ibarras mental state. Allen waited to have
Ibarras hearing because the U.S. Supreme Court was considering an
unrelated case involving a death row inmates claims that executing
mentally retarded inmates violates Eighth Amendment protections against
cruel and unusual punishment.
However, the Court of Criminal Appeals recently ordered Allen to determine
the issue by Sept. 28.
The U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled that mentally retarded inmates are
not eligible for the death penalty.
Ibarra, 52, a Mexican citizen, was convicted in Allen's court in 1997 in
the sexual assault and strangulation death of Waco teenager Maria Zuniga
in 1987.
While Ibarra did not allege mental retardation during his trial, his
attorneys have since filed briefs alleging he has an IQ of about 65.
Kuykendall, a Tucson, Ariz., attorney who serves as director of the
Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, is being paid by the Mexican
government to appeal Ibarras case and those of the other 50 Mexicans on
death row across the country.
In seeking another postponement of the hearing, Kuykendall told the judge
that he needed more time to locate, interview and arrange travel to Waco
for witnesses who knew Ibarra as a child in rural Zacatecas, Mexico.
After Allen rejected his motion for a second time since July, Kuykendall
offered only a report by Puerto Rican psychologist Carol M. Romey that was
not notarized. Romey is not licensed to practice in the United States. She
wrote in her report that she was unwilling to travel to Waco without
assurances that she would be compensated.
"I didn't have any evidence," Kuykendall said after the hearing. But the
reason I didnt have any evidence was because of the judge.
Allen had granted an initial request from Kuykendall for up to $7,500 to
pay an investigator. Allen told him during the hearing that he requested
an additional $9,000 almost immediately without providing any
documentation about how or if he spent the initial allotment.
What you apparently want is an open bill to call anyone in the United
States and beyond to come down here, said Allen, growing increasingly more
impatient with Kuykendall. "I authorized $7,500. You havent furnished one
iota of evidence that you have spent one dime on anything."
Ibarra has the burden to prove he is mentally retarded. With no witnesses
and Romey's report standing alone to support Ibarras claims, special
prosecutor Enid Wade argued that there was plenty of evidence to show that
he is not mentally retarded and asked Allen to reject his claim.
"It is unbelievable to me that the state is being required to expend this
much time and money for this newly raised claim, Wade said after the
hearing. It is certainly no coincidence that Mr. Ibarra just decided he
was mentally retarded after the Supreme Court said that if you are
mentally retarded you cant be executed. He killed this girl in 1987 and he
didnt realize that he was mentally retarded until 2003."
Kuykendall said he will continue to appeal Ibarra's case.
"I understand the pain and the outrage, but people need to understand that
mental retardation is a very real phenomenon and it affects a high
percentage of the people who are on death row," he said.
Wade was appointed special prosecutor because John Segrest represented
Ibarra before being elected McLennan County district attorney. She said
Ibarra is "taking advantage of the system."
"What we have had is delay, delay, delay and more delay," she said. "They
knew full well what this hearing was about, and they show up and say Mr.
Ibarra has lived in the United States for 34 years. He has been on the
earth for 52 years. We have known about this hearing for a couple of
years. Yet we could not find one person on the planet to come here and say
he is mentally retarded.
Wade said she was prepared to provide evidence from Ibarras employers,
jailers and others and offer the trial testimony of his wife and brother,
who testified that he held good jobs and provided for his family.
After his trial in Waco, Ibarra was convicted of molesting his nephew in
Bell County and was sentenced to life in prison.
(source: Waco Tribune Herald)
With no evidence offered other than an unsworn affidavit from a
psychologist in Puerto Rico, a state district judge in Waco determined
Monday that death row inmate Ramiro Rubi Ibarra is not mentally retarded
and thus eligible for the death penalty.
For the second time in two months, Ibarras attorney, Gregory J.
Kuykendall, asked 54th State District Judge George Allen to postpone the
hearing, claiming he lacked the funds and time to adequately prepare for
the hearing.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case back to Allen in
November 2004 to determine Ibarras mental state. Allen waited to have
Ibarras hearing because the U.S. Supreme Court was considering an
unrelated case involving a death row inmates claims that executing
mentally retarded inmates violates Eighth Amendment protections against
cruel and unusual punishment.
However, the Court of Criminal Appeals recently ordered Allen to determine
the issue by Sept. 28.
The U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled that mentally retarded inmates are
not eligible for the death penalty.
Ibarra, 52, a Mexican citizen, was convicted in Allen's court in 1997 in
the sexual assault and strangulation death of Waco teenager Maria Zuniga
in 1987.
While Ibarra did not allege mental retardation during his trial, his
attorneys have since filed briefs alleging he has an IQ of about 65.
Kuykendall, a Tucson, Ariz., attorney who serves as director of the
Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, is being paid by the Mexican
government to appeal Ibarras case and those of the other 50 Mexicans on
death row across the country.
In seeking another postponement of the hearing, Kuykendall told the judge
that he needed more time to locate, interview and arrange travel to Waco
for witnesses who knew Ibarra as a child in rural Zacatecas, Mexico.
After Allen rejected his motion for a second time since July, Kuykendall
offered only a report by Puerto Rican psychologist Carol M. Romey that was
not notarized. Romey is not licensed to practice in the United States. She
wrote in her report that she was unwilling to travel to Waco without
assurances that she would be compensated.
"I didn't have any evidence," Kuykendall said after the hearing. But the
reason I didnt have any evidence was because of the judge.
Allen had granted an initial request from Kuykendall for up to $7,500 to
pay an investigator. Allen told him during the hearing that he requested
an additional $9,000 almost immediately without providing any
documentation about how or if he spent the initial allotment.
What you apparently want is an open bill to call anyone in the United
States and beyond to come down here, said Allen, growing increasingly more
impatient with Kuykendall. "I authorized $7,500. You havent furnished one
iota of evidence that you have spent one dime on anything."
Ibarra has the burden to prove he is mentally retarded. With no witnesses
and Romey's report standing alone to support Ibarras claims, special
prosecutor Enid Wade argued that there was plenty of evidence to show that
he is not mentally retarded and asked Allen to reject his claim.
"It is unbelievable to me that the state is being required to expend this
much time and money for this newly raised claim, Wade said after the
hearing. It is certainly no coincidence that Mr. Ibarra just decided he
was mentally retarded after the Supreme Court said that if you are
mentally retarded you cant be executed. He killed this girl in 1987 and he
didnt realize that he was mentally retarded until 2003."
Kuykendall said he will continue to appeal Ibarra's case.
"I understand the pain and the outrage, but people need to understand that
mental retardation is a very real phenomenon and it affects a high
percentage of the people who are on death row," he said.
Wade was appointed special prosecutor because John Segrest represented
Ibarra before being elected McLennan County district attorney. She said
Ibarra is "taking advantage of the system."
"What we have had is delay, delay, delay and more delay," she said. "They
knew full well what this hearing was about, and they show up and say Mr.
Ibarra has lived in the United States for 34 years. He has been on the
earth for 52 years. We have known about this hearing for a couple of
years. Yet we could not find one person on the planet to come here and say
he is mentally retarded.
Wade said she was prepared to provide evidence from Ibarras employers,
jailers and others and offer the trial testimony of his wife and brother,
who testified that he held good jobs and provided for his family.
After his trial in Waco, Ibarra was convicted of molesting his nephew in
Bell County and was sentenced to life in prison.
(source: Waco Tribune Herald)