Sep 18, 2008 10:43 pm US/Eastern
Defense Presents Insanity Case In Hernandez Trial
"He Was Like The Perfect Child, Kept His Room Very Neat, Gave Us No Problems," Hernandez's Father Testified.
Click Here To Watch The Entire Hernandez Confession Video
ORLANDO (CBS4) ―
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Michael Hernandez in Orlando as jury selection got underway on Sept. 8, 2008.
CBS
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Jamie Gough was stabbed to death in the bathroom of Southwood Middle School in February, 2004.
CBS4 News
Defense attorneys for Michael Hernandez, 18, accused of stabbing a classmate to death in a school bathroom more than four years ago, presented their case on Thursday in Orlando claiming their client was insane at the time of the killing.
During the session, Manny Hernandez, Michael's father, testified
"he was a good boy, still is." He said Michael was a "good child who for whatever reason did something horrible, but he was a good child, very loving, very caring."
He added that his son had a collection of more than thirty bibles and a collection of more than thirty knives.
"He was like the perfect child, kept his room very neat. Gave us no problems," the father added.
He said that in the year before the killing, Michael became withdrawn, shied away from family activities and stayed in the house alone much of the time.
He says Michael began performing repetitive "rituals," staring into the refrigerator, staring at the family's grandfather clock, obsessively arranging his silverware at the dinner table.
His mother, Kathy, also testified she once saw a disturbing image on her son's computer.
"I just remember walking in his room. I don't remember exactly what the picture was but it was gory," adding that she told him to remove it.
When each parent was asked whether they believed Michael was insane, his mother replied, "I think he was then and I think he still is." His father said to the same question, "To do an act of what he's accused of doing, that's just insane."
Both parents proposed taking their son to a psychologist but he objected.
It was nearly four and a half years ago when Hernandez allegedly lured and then stabbed Jaime Gough, 14, to death in the bathroom at Southwood Middle School.
Earlier this week, jurors heard from a former friend of Hernandez who testified that he was lucky to be alive - Andre Martin, now 18, said his name was apparently on a "hit list" Hernandez maintained in a bizarre diary.
Martin also told jurors that Hernandez tried to lure him into the same bathroom stall where Gough was killed, a day before the murder.
"Did there come a time when the school bell rang while you were in the bathroom?" a prosecutor asked him. "Yes," Martin responded. When the bell rang, he hurried off to class.
The prosecutor questioned Martin about his friend. "What type of movies did Michael like?" He answered, "Horror movies." Martin said Hernandez was fascinated with horror and gore. In fact, a few months before the murder, Hernandez supposedly told Martin he thought he was crazy.
The defense attorney asked Martin if he thought Hernandez was insane. "In my opinion, back then at the time of this incident, he wasn't mentally stable," Martin replied, "but not insane." That's not the answer the defense was looking for in an insanity defense.
Hernandez also watched expressionless as jurors were shown the four- inch, curved, serrated knife that he's accused of using to kill Gough. Gough was stabbed more than forty times, and nearly decapitated.
The weapon was among items retrieved from Hernandez's book bag the day of the killing.
Det. Fernando Suco of the Miami-Dade police department testified to attorneys in court about the weapon, "Down here is the knife with the blood stains on it."
Also in his book bag was a blood-spattered red windbreaker along with a pair of latex gloves that he wore while stabbing his good friend. Jurors were shown photographs of other less ominous items in the backpack: school books, notepaper, and his lunch consisting of carrots, chips and dip.
Detective Suco testified that Hernandez admitted involvement in Gough's murder and that his parents were called only after the boy had been questioned for hours. The state tried to counter any suggestion that police took advantage of their son.
In the courtroom, a prosecutor asked him, "At any time did the parents ask you to stop questioning their son?" Det. Suco answered, "No." The prosecutor then asked if, "At any time did the parents ask for an attorney?" The detective again answered, "No."
On cross examination, Hernandez's defense attorney brought out that his parents weren't told of any options they might have had. Defense attorney Richard Rosenbaum asked Det. Suco, "Did you tell them that they could ask that the questioning stop?" Det. Suco responded, "No."
Rosenbaum asked, "Did you tell them that they could ask for a lawyer for their son?" Det. Suco answered, "No."
Rosenbaum then countered, "Did you tell them that they could insist on being present while he was questioned?" The detective again was negative in his response. The defense is hoping to convince jurors that Hernandez, a fourteen year old, was unfairly manipulated into confessing.
Gough's mother and father have endured the presentation of bloody murder exhibits and Hernandez's graphic statement to police. On Tuesday, the last witness on the stand was the medical examiner, who described the 42 stab wounds and gashes Hernandez inflicted on Gough.
"It's been very difficult for us to sit here," described Gough's father Jorge, "especially for my wife, to sit here and listen to his confession and the things that he did to my son."
On Monday, the jurors sat in rapt fascination as they watched a video tape of Hernandez's confession to police. Hernandez coldly and calmly confessed to killing Gough in the bathroom.
During initial questioning by Miami-Dade homicide detective Salvatore Garafolo, Hernandez claimed that another student had killed Jaime because he had owed him money. On further questioning Hernandez eventually became caught up in a series of conflicting statements and finally confessed in a videotaped statement that he committed the murder.
If convicted, Hernandez faces life in prison.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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