DEATH ROW: "Judge: Death Row inmate probably is competent"

From Herald Leader:

Judge: Death Row inmate probably is competent
By Brett Barrouquere - Associated Press

FRANKFORT — A Kentucky Death Row inmate who is pushing to be swiftly executed most likely will be found competent to fire the public defenders who have been fighting his death sentence, a judge and attorneys said at a hearing Friday.

The finding could clear the way to executing 36-year-old Marco Allen Chapman, who is scheduled for lethal injection on Nov. 21.

Even though Chapman dismissed his lawyers in 2004 before pleading guilty to murder and asking for a death sentence, public defenders have continued to file motions on his behalf and have questioned his competency.

Special Judge Roger Crittenden has scheduled another hearing next week to hear testimony from a doctor who examined Chapman. The judge said he would probably declare Chapman competent.

Chapman admitted to killing two children and attacking their sister and sexually assaulting their mother in 2004 in the Northern Kentucky town of Warsaw.

Public defender Heather McGregor said that if an order declaring Chapman competent is issued, defense attorneys will hold up their end of a deal made with the inmate and withdraw two pending motions in the Kentucky Supreme Court trying to stop the execution.

"If he's found competent, we will voluntarily withdraw from the case," McGregor said.

Chapman told the court Friday that once those motions are withdrawn, he wants the execution to go forward.