The state Supreme Court is considering whether to grant a new competency hearing for a Kenosha teen convicted of beating a 51-year-old woman to death.
Roddee Daniel was 15 in 2008 when the murder occurred. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. A psychological assessment before the trial found he had an IQ of 70 and suffered from auditory hallucinations, but Daniel rejected his attorney’s advice and told the trial judge he was competent to stand trial.
His attorney Anthony Jurek is now asking the Supreme Court to order a new competency hearing and appoint a guardian to act on Daniel’s behalf.
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“Really all that entails is whether he should appeal and what the objective on appeal should be,” said Jurek.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Thirteen states have eliminated such sentences, but Wisconsin is not one of them.
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