Psychologist Testifies in Teen-Ager’s Trial

A 14-year-old Simi Valley junior high student charged with stabbing a classmate to death is “intellectually handicapped” and would act irrationally if pushed into a corner, a psychologist testified at the teen-ager’s murder trial Monday.

Katherine Emerick also said in Ventura County Superior Court that Phillip Hernandez is easily intimidated and shows no desire to defend himself against an assault.

“He can’t fight his way out of a paper bag,” Emerick told a judge hearing the boy’s trial, which stretched into its second week on Monday.

Emerick is one of a handful of witnesses to testify on behalf of Hernandez, who is charged with fatally stabbing 14-year-old Chad Hubbard at Valley View Junior High School on Feb. 1.

A prosecutor has said that Hernandez is a malicious killer who deserves to be convicted of second-degree murder. Hernandez pulled a knife and stabbed Hubbard in the chest when Hubbard punched the defendant and challenged him to a fight after school that day, witnesses testified.

But a defense attorney has portrayed Hubbard as a bully, saying he was stabbed only after physically harassing Hernandez.

Emerick’s testimony was designed to help prove the defense’s theory of the case. Emerick said that Hernandez has a below-average IQ of 77 and that he suffers from post-traumatic stress since the incident.

Emerick said Hernandez is now “angry and irritated at the world.”

But during cross-examination, Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison pointed out that several months before the stabbing, Hernandez did not appear to have any problems with his self-esteem. The prosecutor noted that Hernandez bragged to a school official during an evaluation that he is better-looking and more popular than most boys his age.

Hernandez is expected to take the witness stand before the defense rests, said Deputy Public Defender Donna L. Forry.