Attorneys argue against death penalty for woman

Heather Rawlyk

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

Attorneys for the mother charged with beating her children to death with a baseball bat hope that prosecutors drop consideration of the death penalty because of the woman's mental illness.

Sylvia Ewing, 39, is scheduled to appear in District Court Thursday to determine if she is competent to stand trial on murder charges in the deaths of her children. The decision came after North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl received two reports from psychiatrists saying that Ewing is incompetent.

Deputy Public Defenders Scott Coffee and Joseph Abood presented the evaluations to Dahl on Tuesday, arguing that the case should go directly to District Court so that Ewing can be ordered to Lakes Crossing, the state mental hospital in Sparks, for further evaluation.

In the reports, a psychiatrist who evaluated Ewing said she is "acutely psychotic," and has "auditory hallucinations," Abood told Dahl. A psychologist also confirmed that Ewing suffers from a delusional disorder, Abood said.

Coffee said Wednesday that the reports show Ewing has had a history of mental illness and should not face the death penalty.

"What the report shows is that this is not some kind of fabrication," Coffee said. "This is a clearly diagnosed mental case. Often you see people claiming this, but we have a clear case and documentation to back it."

Coffee said that Ewing had spent time in a mental facility prior to the slayings.

"As of now she is in no state to stand trial," Coffee said. "We are dealing with someone who doesn't understand what has happened. She is still asking where her children are."

Coffee went on to explain Ewing's apparent auditory hallucinations, in which she hears commands from Jesus.

"Neighbors said that they saw this woman standing on the front lawn, holding her child up in the air and yelling to Jesus," he said. "They (the neighbors) said she was a very devoted, caring mother who maybe thought she was even helping the children in some twisted way."

The defense has high hopes that the reports will prove the severity of Ewing's mental instability and sway a panel of prosecutors who are weighing whether to seek the death penalty.

"I don't think they'll push the death penalty now that these reports are out," he said. "We're hoping that someone will have a heart and understand that she does not know what is going on. They have certain laws about executing mentally retarded individuals and this should run along the same lines. You shouldn't execute someone that doesn't understand the charges."

The U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that executing mentally retarded people is unconstitutional, and the Nevada Legislature during the last session changed state law to exclude mentally retarded defendants from death penalty consideration.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Vickie Monroe said Wednesday that the prosecution will not make any further decisions until after Ewing is evaluated at Lakes Crossing.

If Ewing is declared mentally incompetent, the two murder charges against her will be put on hold while she is treated at Lakes Crossing until she is declared competent.