Years after Ron Lafferty was ruled mentally fit to stand trial and convicted of a double murder, the death-row inmate's lawyers are asking for another competency evaluation.
The defense attorneys say Lafferty is paranoid schizophrenic, a condition that makes him unable to meaningfully communicate with them about a federal court challenge of his conviction and death sentence.
In November, they asked U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to halt the court proceedings pending an evaluation.
The Utah Attorney General's Office in court filings argued the defense is limited to rebutting arguments already raised in the federal appeal and has no need to get any new information from Lafferty. They also have said Lafferty has no legal right to be mentally competent in a federal challenge to his state conviction and death sentence.
Lafferty and his brother, Dan, were convicted of the July 24, 1984, murders of their sister-in-law, Brenda Lafferty, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, at their American Fork home. In separate penalty hearings, Ron Lafferty was condemned to die and Dan Lafferty was sentenced to two consecutive life terms after a Utah County jury deadlocked 11-to-1 in favor of the death penalty.
A federal appeals court overturned Ron Lafferty's conviction in 1991, ruling a trial judge in the state's 4th District Court used an incorrect legal standard in finding him competent. Lafferty was found incompetent to stand trial in 1992; in 1994, he was found competent. He was retried in 1996 and once again found guilty and sentenced to death.
Brenda Lafferty -- the wife of Ron's and Dan's brother Allen -- was beaten and strangled with a vacuum cleaner cord before her throat was slashed and Erica died in her crib after her throat was slashed. According to 1996 trial testimony, Dan admitted to slashing the victims' throats, but said Ron had received a revelation from God ordering their removal.
Xavier Amador, a New York-based clinical psychologist, wrote in a Nov. 4 report that he believes Lafferty is paranoid schizophrenic and shows signs of frontal lobe syndrome and memory impairments. Amador, who reviewed previous evaluations and interviewed the 68-year-old Lafferty at the Utah State Prison for his report, said further testing is needed.
