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White» Fmm Page 1Abelieves Whalen made the only decision he could based on the evidence. Bland said he will be ready for trial when a date is set.“The state has always been ready to try this case since it happened,” he said.When asked whether it was the defense delaying the trial, he refused to comment.In December 2010, Five-coat told Whalen the defense was not yet ready when it was determined White would be able to stand trial, despite Dr. Renuka Borra’s diagnosis that White could be dead eight to 12 months from December. Whalen then set the trial for the spring.Fivecoat would not comment further than the testimony Wednesday.Borra, who testified for the state and is White’s doctor, said White was again not responding to his chemotherapy treatment, so the treatment was changed.However, not enough time has passed to determine whether the new treatment is working.Additionally, she said White has not received his last two scheduled treatments because he was too sick to undergo the strenuous chemotherapy.Borra said White would not be able to sit in one place for more than an hour and still be able to understand what is going on in a courtroom setting because of his pain.White is taking several painlulling medications and is too weak to speak very long, much less sit for a trial, Borra said. Even breaks every 30 minutes to every hour, for a full day would be too much, Borra said.White was administereda rpund of .medication at about 1:46 pan., in the middle of the bearing.His cancer is progressist Borra said, and he willbe examined next week todetermine whether the nfar chemotherapy treat-ment' Ua helped, if not.White could eventually be moved to a hospice and heavily medicated.Rusty Wall, an attorney who often works on capital murder cases and testified on the defense’s behalf, said it takes a level of mental focus for a defendant tobe capable of standing trial, including paying attention and responding to the changing events of a trial.Wall visited with White and said if he was the defense attorney, it would be difficult to help White defend himself.“Mr. White had great difficulty in concentrating and listening,” he said. “It was apparent to me after a short time that he was in great physical pain.”Dr. Richard Coons, a forensic psychiatrist, said he visited with White and determined that he could not competently participate in his own defense, has aged beyond his years and has .lost a lot of weight.White weights about 118 pounds after weighing 141 pounds during his last hearing in December. In a response to a question from prosecutor Linda Deaderick, Borra said she didn’t think White would ever gain the weight back.And Coons said he believes the dramatic decline in health has affected White mentally.“There were times he would stop in the middle of a conversation and not take it back up again because of the pain,” Coons said. “He’s going downhill fast.”The only witness who did not negatively comment on White’s mental state and ability to concentrate was head jail nurseRobin McCullough, a statewitness.She said after being administered pain medication he wrote a “lucid and cognitive” letter complaining about the way his food was prepared.He alsft has refused medications on a regularbasis, she said, althoughthe main medication he refused was a cholesterol-towering dedication.“I have noticed that refusals are doee tothe trialdate, McCullough add.
Newspaper Details
Odessa American
Odessa, Texas, US
Thu, Mar 24, 2011
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Jared T.
NA, NA 30 May 2023
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