District Attorney Carol Chambers said Tuesday she will seek the death penalty for Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, if the law allows it.
Rubi-Nava confessed to dragging his girlfriend, Maria Franco-Fierros, to death behind his car in north Douglas County in September 2006.
“A decision to seek the death penalty is among the most significant responsibilities any public official can face,” Chambers said in a statement.
The point could be moot, however.
Rubi-Nava’s public defender, Tamara Brady, claims her client is mentally retarded. The state and U.S. supreme courts have ruled that anyone mentally retarded, cannot be executed. To qualify a defendant must have an IQ below 70 and have a diagnosis or demonstrated history of retardation before he is 18 years old.
Douglas County Circuit Judge Paul King has set an Oct. 26 hearing on the results of testing by the state mental hospital on whether Rubi-Nava is mentally retarded.
Despite Rubi-Nava’s signed confession, Brady entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in August.
