A death-row inmate who has twice been found guilty of capital murder is now asking for a third competency hearing, this time in federal court.
Court documents state that attorneys for Ron Lafferty believe they "cannot meaningfully communicate" with their client about "the issues involved in his case." They say the federal court proceedings must be stayed until Lafferty's competency is restored or else he will be denied his right, under law, to a fair proceeding.
State prosecutors don't believe that "any alleged incompetency requires a stay at this stage of the proceedings," court documents state. They also don't think Lafferty's competency is actually relevant at all in his federal case.
Lafferty was convicted of murder along with his brother, Dan Lafferty, in the killing of their sister-in-law, Brenda Lafferty, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, on July 24, 1984. Both victims were found with their throats slit by what police say was a barber's razor. Dan is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Ron Lafferty was sentenced to die in 1985, but the question of his competency came up almost immediately. After an appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, he was granted a new trial in 1991. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out Ron Lafferty's earlier conviction because the wrong legal standard was used to determine his mental competence. In 1994, Lafferty was again found competent by doctors, and in 1996, Lafferty was again found guilty by a jury and was sentenced to die.
Lafferty's conviction was also held up by the Utah Supreme Court in 2001. The state's high court based its decision, in part, on the question of whether he was mentally competent back in 1985 to stand trial for murder. The justices concluded that given several mental evaluations, Lafferty was competent. The ruling essentially exhausted Lafferty's state appeal options, and he then turned to the federal court in an effort to stay his execution.
Defense attorneys for Lafferty have long contended that Lafferty is incompetent as he has been deemed psychotic, schizophrenic and manic depressive by various experts in various evaluations. His last appeal at the state level was denied by the Utah Supreme Court in 2007.
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