Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 17:40:57 GMT -5
Hearing set to determine if man is competent to face death penalty
Attorneys for death row inmate Ramiro Rubi Ibarra will try to convince a
state district judge in Waco today that Ibarra is mentally retarded and
therefore exempt from execution.
Ibarra, a 52-year-old Mexican citizen, was convicted in Waco in 1997 in
the 1987 sexual assault and strangulation death of Waco teenager Maria
Zuniga.
While Ibarra did not allege mental retardation during his trial, his
attorneys have since filed briefs alleging he has an IQ of about 65, about
5 points lower than the accepted standard for mental retardation.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally retarded inmates are not
eligible for the death penalty.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Ibarra's case back to Waco's 54th
State District Court for Judge George Allen to make a determination about
Ibarra's mental status.
Ibarra's attorney, Gregory J. Kuykendall, of Tucson, Ariz., sent
notification to special prosecutor Enid Wade on Thursday night that he
will seek a postponement of today's hearing. Allen already has rejected
one motion from Kuykendall for a continuance, saying the Court of Criminal
Appeals has given him a strict deadline under which to conduct the
hearing.
Kuykendall, who has said that he is being paid by the Mexican government
to represent Ibarra, told the judge that he must find witnesses from rural
Mexico, where Ibarra grew up, "to establish adaptive behavior deficits"
from his childhood.
Wade, who is opposing Ibarra's contention that he is retarded, was
appointed to prosecute the case because John Segrest represented Ibarra
before he became McLennan County district attorney and recused his office
from the case.
For Ibarra to prevail, Wade said, he will have to show that his deficient
IQ affects him by keeping him from doing things that normal people can do
and that the onset of the problem occurred before he was 18.
"He has in both his criminal activity and otherwise shown a very high
level of functioning," Wade said. "This is just a ploy to avoid the
punishment that he deserves and that a jury found was appropriate."
If Kuykendall is not successful in postponing the hearing, court officials
say, the hearing could last up to 5 days.
(source: Waco Tribune-Herald)
Attorneys for death row inmate Ramiro Rubi Ibarra will try to convince a
state district judge in Waco today that Ibarra is mentally retarded and
therefore exempt from execution.
Ibarra, a 52-year-old Mexican citizen, was convicted in Waco in 1997 in
the 1987 sexual assault and strangulation death of Waco teenager Maria
Zuniga.
While Ibarra did not allege mental retardation during his trial, his
attorneys have since filed briefs alleging he has an IQ of about 65, about
5 points lower than the accepted standard for mental retardation.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally retarded inmates are not
eligible for the death penalty.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Ibarra's case back to Waco's 54th
State District Court for Judge George Allen to make a determination about
Ibarra's mental status.
Ibarra's attorney, Gregory J. Kuykendall, of Tucson, Ariz., sent
notification to special prosecutor Enid Wade on Thursday night that he
will seek a postponement of today's hearing. Allen already has rejected
one motion from Kuykendall for a continuance, saying the Court of Criminal
Appeals has given him a strict deadline under which to conduct the
hearing.
Kuykendall, who has said that he is being paid by the Mexican government
to represent Ibarra, told the judge that he must find witnesses from rural
Mexico, where Ibarra grew up, "to establish adaptive behavior deficits"
from his childhood.
Wade, who is opposing Ibarra's contention that he is retarded, was
appointed to prosecute the case because John Segrest represented Ibarra
before he became McLennan County district attorney and recused his office
from the case.
For Ibarra to prevail, Wade said, he will have to show that his deficient
IQ affects him by keeping him from doing things that normal people can do
and that the onset of the problem occurred before he was 18.
"He has in both his criminal activity and otherwise shown a very high
level of functioning," Wade said. "This is just a ploy to avoid the
punishment that he deserves and that a jury found was appropriate."
If Kuykendall is not successful in postponing the hearing, court officials
say, the hearing could last up to 5 days.
(source: Waco Tribune-Herald)