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■ Kerrville: Prosecution witnesses say thatHernandez can be put to deathBy Mark J. ArmstrongTimes Staff WriterWitnesses for the prosecution testified Wednesday that the man on death row for the 1997 killing of a former Schreiner College professor was beaten and emotionally abused as a child, got food from a Mexican dump and had very little education but isn’t mentally retarded and can be put to death under Texas Law.“It’s not that he couldn’t learnthese things. He just didn’t,” said Dr. Richard Coons, a forensic psychiatrists from Austin.Evidence from two days of testimony will be reviewed by Judge Steve Abies who will issue a determination as to whether or not 37-year-old Ramiro Hernandez is retarded. His findings, along with all of the evidence and testimony from the case, will be sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals which will make a final decision, said 216th Assistant District Attorney Lucy Cavazos.If Hernandez is found to be mentally retarded, he could receive a reprieve from the death sentence handed down in 2000.Attorneys for Hernandez aigued this week that Hernandez suffers from mild retardation and are asking the courts to overturn his death sentence under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment for a mentally retarded person.In 2000, Hernandez was sentenced to die after he was convicted for the 1997 murder of former collegeprofessor Glen H. Lich at his Kerr County ranch south of Kerrville.Earlier this week, witnesses for the defense testified that Hernandezhad scored an IQ of 54 on his most recent exam. Coons said that previous test showed Hernandez has an IQ of 87 and that he scored well on other psychological tests.Coons said he believed that Hernandez had nottried to score well on recent examinations.“It seems highly probable to me that the (most recent) scores do not accurately reflect his capability.It’s close to impossible, in fact,”Coons said.Earlier this week, family members testified that Hernandez was beaten as a child and grew up in a shack near a dump. When he was 20-years-old, he escaped from a Mexican prison where he was reportedly jailed in connection with a murder.In 1997, Hernandez made his way to Bandera County where he worked as a ranch hand for Lich. On Oct. 14, 1997, Hernandez attacked and killed then 49-year-old lich. He also was accused of raping Lich’s wife multiple times.Mark J. Armstrong may be reached at mark.armstrongOdaltytimes.com.Hernandez
Newspaper Details
Kerrville Daily Times
Kerrville, Texas, US
Thu, Oct 19, 2006
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jared T.
NA, NA 30 May 2023
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