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DA to appeal ruling that murder suspect is retarded

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

Prosecutors will appeal a District Court judge's ruling that declared a murder suspect mentally retarded, Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz said this morning.

In a ruling last week District Judge Lee Gates declared Vornelius Phillips, 27, mentally retarded. The ruling allows Phillips to avoid the death penalty, based on a Supreme Court decision and state law passed this year preventing the execution of retarded individuals.

Schwartz said he and Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas plan to appeal the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court. The prosecutors had argued that Phillips was faking mental retardation to avoid a possible execution.

Phillips is charged with killing Ivy Shunstrom, 40, in a motel near the Las Vegas Strip, and then running over Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Robert "Bobby" Kintzel. Kintzel is still recovering from multiple brain surgeries.

Phillips will appear before Gates on June 25. A trial date is expected to be set at that time.

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