Louisiana judge appoints panel to assess MR status of condemned murderer

From 2theAdvocate:

A state judge appointed a psychiatrist and two psychologists Nov. 6 to determine whether condemned killer Robert Craig Miller, of Baton Rouge, is mentally retarded.

Miller, now 47, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die in 1998 for the rape, robbery and fatal stabbing of 67-year-old Arneida Lindsey Mills.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court barred the execution of mentally retarded defendants.

Miller’s attorneys said last year a Lafayette psychologist determined he has an IQ of 61. An intelligence quotient of 70 is generally the threshold courts use to determine mental retardation.

State District Judge Don Johnson asked prosecutors and Miller’s attorneys in September to recommend the names of mental health experts suitable to evaluate Miller.

After hearing arguments from both sides Friday, the judge appointed psychiatrist Terry LeBourgeois and psychologists Frank Gresham and Charles Vosburg to test Miller.

LeBourgeois, recommended by prosecutors, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine.

Gresham, suggested by the defense, is a professor in LSU’s Department of Psychology.

Vosburg, a Louisiana psychologist, was not on the lists provided by the prosecution and defense.

Johnson said a hearing on the results of the mental health experts’ evaluation of Miller will begin March 22.

Mills was killed in January 1997 in her Saguaro Avenue home. Her face had been disfigured from a queen-size sleeper sofa Miller admitted dropping on her. Miller, who lived across the street from Mills, told police he had gone to Mills’ home at 2 a.m. to pay his rent. Mills, a widow, collected rent for Miller’s landlord.

Prosecutors said Mills was raped and stabbed with a long kitchen knife. After the assault, Miller cleaned himself in her bathroom before cutting her throat with another knife, prosecutors said.