Nathan Ybanez’s former attorney testified Tuesday that the then-teenager told him he was not abused and he killed his mother because she threatened to send him to military school.
Ybanez, now 26, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 1998 beating and strangling of his mother, Julie Ybanez.
Ybanez’s new attorneys are asking Douglas County Judge Nancy Hopf to grant him a new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel.
They say criminal defense lawyer Craig Truman did not investigate abuse in Ybanez’s family and present it to a jury. They also argued that Truman was hired by Ybanez’s father, Roger, who did not want the information about abuse to come out, which presented a conflict of interest.
Truman was under subpoena to testify.
Prosecutor Laura Rosenthal cross-examined Truman about why he did not present a child-abuse defense at Ybanez’s trial.
Truman said Ybanez only told him that he was upset with his mother for restricting where he could go and about his marijuana use.
“He told me his mom lied to him a lot, told him how to live and that he could not go out with friends,” Truman said. “She was holding military school over his head like a gun and he would never have a chance to hang out with his friends.”
Truman said he knew about a physical fight that Ybanez had with his father in his bedroom, but he also didn’t think he could use the information at trial.
“The abuse that had to do with a fight in the room was not admissible as evidence as it applied to the killing of Julie Ybanez,” he said.
Nathan Ybanez, then 16, was evaluated by a psychologist Truman hired who determined that the boy could be diagnosed as having a “psychopathic deviancy,” which means he lacked a conscience, something considered untreatable.
Truman said he did not believe the psychological evaluation would help Ybanez at trial.
Rosenthal asked Truman about Ybanez’s demeanor and emotional state when talking about his mother’s murder.
“Businesslike,” Truman said.
Another teenager, Erik Jensen, also was convicted in the murder and sentenced to life in prison for helping Ybanez.
Truman said he theorized that Jensen was the instigator after Ybanez told him he and Jensen hatched a plan to knock his mom unconscious and then strangle her with a plastic bag.
“He helped Ybanez come to the opinion that he was abused and should kill his mother,” Truman said.
Truman said that he tried each time he met with Ybanez to get him to talk about abuse but he never did.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
