{"id":5522,"date":"2009-02-23T14:06:23","date_gmt":"2009-02-23T09:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=5522"},"modified":"2009-02-23T06:35:01","modified_gmt":"2009-02-23T11:35:01","slug":"deaf-sight-impaired-man-not-competent-to-face-child-porn-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/02\/23\/deaf-sight-impaired-man-not-competent-to-face-child-porn-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf, sight-impaired man not competent to face child porn charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deaf, sight-impaired man not competent to face child porn charges<\/p>\n

Thursday, February 19, 2009<\/p>\n

By Tommy Witherspoon<\/p>\n

Tribune-Herald staff writer<\/p>\n

A deaf and sight-impaired man was sent to a state mental hospital
\nWednesday to help him attain competence to face child pornography
\ncharges in Waco.<\/p>\n

After an agreement between prosecutors and an attorney for Osbaldo
\nLopez, 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson ordered the 30-year-old
\nto be treated at Austin State Hospital.<\/p>\n

Lopez is mentally competent to stand trial. However, he is legally
\nblind with a degenerative eye disease and cannot hear or speak, making
\nit difficult for him to understand the criminal proceedings against
\nhim or assist his lawyer with his case, defense attorney Gerald
\nVillarrial said.<\/p>\n

Lopez was assisted at the brief hearing Wednesday by an interpreter
\nfor the deaf. The judge allowed him to keep his University of Texas
\nbaseball cap on in court because Lopez indicated that the glare from
\nthe courtroom lights hampered his impaired vision.<\/p>\n

He pleaded guilty to three counts of child pornography in July 2006.
\nHowever, between the time he pleaded guilty and sentencing, officials
\nrealized that he didn\u2019t have the degree of understanding about his
\ncase and the judicial system that was necessary to proceed.<\/p>\n

Lopez captured the attention of the state attorney general\u2019s
\ncybercrimes unit when he posted 50 images of child pornography on an
\nInternet group in June 2004, according to court records filed in his
\ncase.<\/p>\n

Officials raided his apartment on the Texas State Technical College
\ncampus, seized his computer and arrested him on child pornography
\ncharges. They also seized a computer at his parents\u2019 home in
\nPearland, reports indicate.<\/p>\n

After he was freed from jail on bail, Lopez returned to Pearland,
\nwhere he reportedly worked with someone to try to increase his
\nliteracy and communication skills.<\/p>\n

However, he apparently \u201cmade very minimal gains\u201d in those
\nefforts, leaving him incompetent to fully understand the charges or
\ncommunicate with his attorney because of his disabilities, according
\nto a Jan. 21 report from Waco psychiatrist Steven L. Mark, who was
\nappointed by the court to evaluate Lopez.<\/p>\n

Villarrial said Lopez remains \u201clinguistically incompetent,\u201d
\nadding that experts he has consulted predict he may never improve to
\nthe level of competence, particularly as his vision worsens.<\/p>\n

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com<\/p>\n

757-5737<\/p>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.wacotrib.com\/news\/content\/news\/stories\/2009\/02\/19\/02192009wacblinddeafporn.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deaf, sight-impaired man not competent to face child porn charges Thursday, February 19, 2009 By Tommy Witherspoon Tribune-Herald staff writer A deaf and sight-impaired man was sent to a state mental hospital Wednesday to help him attain competence to face…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-1r4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11472,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/08\/23\/sunshine-cottage-opens-new-building-for-hearing-impaired-kids\/","url_meta":{"origin":5522,"position":0},"title":"Sunshine Cottage opens new building for hearing-impaired kids","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunshine Cottage opens new building for hearing-impaired kids By Jennifer R. 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