Apr 10, 2007 7:26 pm US/Eastern
Middle School Murder Case Back In Court
Jaime Gough Murdered At Southwood Middle
Michael Hernandez Charged With 1st Degree Murder
Attorney Wants Hernandez Confession Thrown Out
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A defense attorney for a teenager charged with killing his middle school classmate more than 3 years ago is fighting to have his client's confession thrown out, saying Tuesday that the boy's parents were barred from the police interview and he had no attorney present.
Michael Hernandez, and his parents, all attended Tuesday's suppression hearing in which Hernandez' attorney fought to have the teenager's confession thrown out as evidence.
Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 3, 2004 death of Jamie Gough, 14, at Southwood Middle School. Gough had more than 40 stab and slash wounds to his neck, face and hands, and Hernandez confessed to the killing after he was pulled from class that day wearing blood-speckled clothes. Prosecutors say he also had a bloody knife in his backpack when he was arrested.
A detective on the stand Tuesday told the judge that when he interviewed Michael Hernandez, the teen told him that "he didn't want to be seen like Hannibal Lechter".
In a previous court hearing, Hernandez's attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, said he would pursue an insanity defense for his client.
A journal found in Hernandez's backpack after the slaying displayed a fascination with serial killers, violence and prayer. It also outlined plans to kill Gough and another boy. That other boy told police that he refused to enter a handicapped stall in the bathroom when Hernandez said he wanted to show him something. Gough's body was found in the same stall the next day.
A psychologist hired by the defense said Hernandez suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. While a judge did acknowledge that Hernandez has a mental illness, he wrote that it does not interfere with his mental competency to stand trial.
The teenager faces an automatic life prison sentence if convicted of first-degree murder.
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