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Mental Retardation Raised in 2003 Case

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The Amarillo Globe-News reports, "Death penalty decried."An Amarillo man convicted in the 2003 shooting deaths of three people should be spared the death penalty because he is mentally retarded, his new attorneys say in court papers. Lawyers representing Jimmie Urbano Lucero say in a 280-page writ of habeas corpus application that their client's previous attorneys "ignored obvious signs" of his mental illness leading up to his May 2005 trial. He was mentally incapable of assisting in his own defense and should have been deemed incompetent to stand trial, they argue. "Had defense counsel performed even at the most minimal level of effectiveness ... Jimmie Lucero's life almost certainly would have been spared by the jury," said attorney Jeffrey A...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on January 23, 2008 (boomark / email).