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Jury Rules Kleasen SaneAbletoAUSTIN, Tex. lt;AP) — It took only five minutes Tuesday for a jury to find Robert Kleasen sane—as he said he wanted it to be— therefore able to stand trial on charges he murdered two Mormon missionaries.State District Court Judge Tom Blackwell said he would set a date March 27 for themurder trial.Blackwell released Kleasen’s three defense lawyers from the case. “I think they’ve put upwith enough,” he said.Kleasen refused throughout the sanity trial to let his lawyers put on evidence he is incompetent, which they said they wanted to do because they think he is insane.Dist. Atty. Bob Smith said the murder trial could be held in four to six weeks, if Kleasen gets a new attorney, or has one appointed for him by the judge, and assuming the defense wants a speedy trial.The foreman of the iurv for the sanitv trial, former Austin City Manager Robert Tinst-man, said one of the big factors in convincing the jury of Kleasen’s sanity was “the respect shown him in consultation with his own attorneys.”Kleasen. who showed no emotion when the verdict w'as read, was asked as he was being led back to jail how he felt about the verdict.“Fine,” he said.He was satisfied with it?Yes, I was,” he said.On advice of his financee. Linda Miller, a heavy-set piano teacher. Kleasen declined further comment. His attorneys' files in the case were turned over to Miss Miller.Kleasen refused to let his attorneys make final arguments to the jury. Smith talked for only 20 minutes for the prosecution.Smith said only one of three psychiatrists had doubt that Kleasen always had a “rational” as well as a “factual” understanding of the charges against him.That one doctor's testimony was “very vague, very equivocal,” Smith said in asking for a prompt verdict that Kleasen is sane.Kleasen testified Tuesday morning that he wanted to be found sane because he is innocent of charges.Kleasen argued with his chief defense lawyer, Bob Gibbins. in front of the judge but outside the hearing of the jury.You want to be found competent so you can hurry on to trial and face the electric chair, don't you?” Gibbins almost shouted at Kleasen.“I'm anxious to face trial because I am innocent. Kleasen replied in an even voice. “I'm not really afraid of anything they may have found or planted at my trailer.“I know for a fact I didn’t kill anybody. Iadon't even know if anybody has been murdered.”When the jury was brought back into the courtroom, Kleasen took the witness stand, over objections of his lawyer.“I thought I’d give the jury a chance to hear me speak,” he said.Asked by a prosecutor if he knew who he was and where he was, Kleasen smiled and said. “My name is Robert Kleasen. I am in the Travis County Courthouse. Travis County, Austin, Texas, the United States of America ”He cocked his eyes wildly to a clock on the wall and continued: “it is 11:32 on the 18th of March.He said he understood what he faces. “I am charged with two counts of capital murder. The death penalty is a possibility if I am convicted of these crimes.”Kleasen, 42. is accused in the slayings of Gary Darlev, 20. of Simi Valley, Calif., and Mark Fischer. 19, of Milwaukee, Wis. The state says he cut up their bodies with a hand saw in a taxidermy shop.Two court-appointed psychiatrists differed on Kleasen's competency.“He has delusions of persecution ... He thinks it is part of a larger effort by government agencies to do him in.” said Dr. Stuart Nemir. “It is almost as an afterthought that he comes back to the charge against him 1StandTrialthink he gets them confused.’Nemir said Kleasen is not competent to assist his lawyers in a murder trial.As Nemir testified, Kleasen studied him through narrowed eyes, a stub pencil to his lips.Dr. Roger McCary testified he thinks Kleasen is mentally ill but not so much so that he can’t rationally assist his lawyers.A third psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Coons, hired by the district attorney, agreed with McCary. “He has a personality disorder,” Coons said. “He does not have, in my opinion, a severe mental illness.”Reports from two doctors at a federal hospital in Springfield, Mo., were kept from the jury at Kleasen’s insistence. The defense lawyers have said these reports brand Kleasen as incompetent.Gibbins let the jury know time and again that he was acting under instructions by Kleasen and against Gibbins’ advice.The defendant refused to allow- cross-examination of the doctors, but Gibbins finally got so angry at Coons that he cross-examined him anyway, on the issue of Coons’ failure to give defense lawyers a copy of his findings.Kleasen was the only witness for the defense.
Newspaper Details
Abilene Reporter News
Abilene, Texas, US
Wed, Mar 19, 1975
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Jared T.
NA, NA 26 May 2023
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