Castle Rock – Lawyers for Jose Luis Rubi-Nava entered a not guilty plea in Douglas County District Court today, even though their client had given a written confession after the grisly murder of his girlfriend last September.
Public Defender Tamara Brady said she would also formally ask the Judge Paul King to declare her client mentally retarded.
“If a defendant is found mentally retarded he can’t be executed in this state,” said Kathleen Walsh, spokeswoman for District Attorney Carol Chambers after the brief hearing today. “He would still face life in prison if he is convicted.”
She added, “The defense still has the burden of proof to prove the defendant is mentally retarded.”
King will consider the motion to declare Rubi-Nava retarded at hearing next Wednesday in Castle Rock.
Rubi-Nava, 37, is accused of putting a noose around the next of his live-in girlfriend, Maria Franco-Fierros, 49, tying the opposing end to the bumper of his car and driving away. His body was found at the end of a 1.3-mile trail of blood on Surrey Ridge Drive in north Douglas County.
Both are illegal immigrants. Investigators connected Rubi-Nava to the crime by a picture found near where the dragging began. The picture, which Rubi-Nava told an investigator he kept over the visor in his car, was of Rubi-Nava and his wife.
