Defendant said to be ‘functionally illiterate’

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 11:02 a.m.

A man charged with causing a fatal auto accident last March was described by a psychologist as "functionally illiterate" with "mild mental retardation."

Louis Mortillaro, who has spent a good deal of his career as an expert witness for prosecutors, took the stand Monday and said in some ways the 57-year-old Morse is childlike.

"He has big deficiencies in his working memory," Mortillaro told jurors in District Judge Valorie Vega's courtroom, noting that Morse has an IQ ranging from 70 to 75, while retardation is 55 to 70. "He forgets things told him moments earlier."

Mortillaro was one of only three witnesses called by the defense.

Mortillaro said an auto accident at age 5 damaged Morse's "left frontal temporal area (and) could have been the start of his problems," including failing grades in school and the inability as an adult to read and write above first- and second-grade levels.

Closing arguments were scheduled today. Morse is charged with rear-ending four vehicles waiting for a stoplight on Boulder Highway March 11, killing Lela Ann Jay, 45, and rendering her sister, $35 million Megabucks slot jackpot winner Cynthia Jay-Brennan, 38, a quadriplegic. Five others were injured.

Mortillaro said it was his opinion that Morse, on the night of the accident, fled the scene not as a plotting person fleeing prosecution but as "an impaired third grader running home to the safety of his mother," with whom Morse lives. "I don't think he planned it."

Defense attorney John Moran Jr. was trying to prove "diminished mental capacity" to gain acquittal. Prosecutors have argued that Morse's mental capacity is not an issue.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker asked Mortillaro a series of questions that demonstrated that Morse was capable enough to decide to drive to a bar, order drinks, get drunk, go out to his mother's Ford Explorer -- which he allegedly had taken without her permission -- and attempt to drive home.

Blood tests that night showed Morse had a blood alcohol level of 0.18 and 0.15. A level of 0.10 in Nevada is considered under the influence.

If convicted on all counts, Morse faces a maximum sentence of 166 years in prison.

Moran originally was retained by the Morse family, which ran out of money to pay for the high-profile Las Vegas attorney before trial. At Moran's request, the court appointed Moran and his firm to represent Morse at the state's expense. Moran said Monday he has not yet determined the amount he will submit as a bill to the state.