Jun 7, 2007 11:30 pm US/Eastern
Father Of Middle School Murder Suspect Testifies
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The father of a middle school student accused of killing his classmate took the stand Thursday in court, testifying that he wasn't allowed to see his son before he confessed to committing the alleged murder.
"I got a phone call from a Miami Herald reporter, and he asked me, pretty much saying, 'Mr. Hernandez, are you aware that your son has confessed?'"
Those were the words of Manny Hernandez, as he testified in a mental competency hearing for his son Michael Hernandez. The defense is trying to prove that the now 17-year-old boy is an obsessive compulsive, mentally disturbed boy, who did not have the capacity to understand what he was doing when he confessed to murdering his classmate.
On Wednesday the judge started hearing testimony on whether to admit Michael Hernandez' confession he made to police three years ago over his alleged deadly stabbing of classmate Jamie Gough.
They were both in eighth grade, 14 years old, and classmates in public school.
Charged as an adult, Michael Hernandez has been held in jail awaiting trial for more than three years. He is now 17, and if convicted, could spend the rest of his days in prison.
Child welfare advocates have argued that children who commit horrible crimes should not be treated or punished as adults because they think, act and perceive the world differently than adults and that confessions probably are made in a state of confusion.
Psychologist Barry Rosenthal of Fordham University testified Wednesday that almost one month before the death of Jamie Gough, Hernandez displayed "bizarre behavior". He said, "Michael created a rigid schedule down to chewing snacks in school, the time he would have to go to bed, how many times he would circle the cul de sac on his bike." Rosenthal then said Michael started "punishing himself for violations of his schedule that gradually increased to cutting himself".
A day later on Thursday, a psychiatrist to the prosecution admitted that the boy had some bizarre behaviors but his thinking in logical and he is in his right mind to comprehend what he has allegedly done.
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