Jury to Begin Deliberating Sanity of Killer
A hearing on whether Horace Kelly is sane enough to be executed swept to a dramatic close Wednesday as a prosecutor displayed three silhouettes representing Kelly’s victims, each stamped with a large red “X.”
His voice dropping to a whisper, prosecutor Ed Berberian read the names and ages of the victims--two women and an 11-year-old boy--who were killed by Kelly in November 1984.
“Ask yourself this, ‘Is Horace Kelly aware of why he’s being executed?’ ” Berberian said.
The silhouettes, shown on a TV monitor, were used during one of the few times Kelly’s victims--not technically at issue in this proceeding--have been taken note of in the courtroom. A Marin County jury is expected to begin deliberating today on Kelly’s mental state.
Kelly, 38, had been scheduled to die April 14 for the three murders in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. But his execution was postponed after a San Quentin prison psychiatrist said he wasn’t sure Kelly met the legal definition of competence. State and federal laws prohibit execution of the insane.
Kelly’s attorneys presented experts who said Kelly knows his name and not much more.
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