Suspect’s IQ, confession key in crime spree case

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 8:57 a.m.

The IQ and Miranda rights comprehension of a man charged with murder, multiple sexual assaults and home robberies were the focus of a hearing Tuesday to determine whether his confession to police should be admissible at trial.

Twenty-one-year-old Justin Porter is charged with raping six women, killing former monk Gyaltso Lungtok and invading 13 homes between Feb. 1 and June 9, 2000.

Authorities said DNA linked Porter to at least one of the alleged sexual assaults. Porter was 17 at the time of the crime spree.

The ultimate question before District Judge John McGroarty is whether the confession made by Porter to Chicago police was voluntary or coerced. The decision will be based largely on determinations about Porter's intelligence and his comprehension of his rights in addition to the testimony of the detectiveswho interrogated Porter.

Porter's defense attorneys have been trying for months to throw out Porter's confession. They allege that Chicago police coerced it from him. They contend Porter only confessed on tape after police gave him an unrecorded 2.5-hour "pre-interview." Porter contends officers threatened to beat him with phone books and "take him down to the docks to whoop his ass if he didn't confess."

John Paglini, who is certified in forensic psychology, administered IQ and achievement tests to Porter and examined his educational history in the Chicago school system and Las Vegas.

He testified that Porter scored a 78 on an IQ test, which classified Porter as having "borderline intelligence." In comparison, a person deemed mentally retarded would have an IQ of 69 or lower.

"He (Porter) was diagnosed early on in Chicago schools as being severely learning disabled, and then at 19 he obtained scores equivalent to third grade level," Paglini said.

Prosecutors pressed Paglini as to whether Porter's IQ would prevent him from being street savvy or to be able to be a drug dealer on the streets.

Paglini said people with Porter's IQ were capable of dealing drugs, but in regards to performing skills in relation to a job "hes not going to do a good job at all."

Paglini was unable to say whether Porter's intelligence level would prevent him from understanding Miranda rights, he left that up to Dr. Greg Brown.

Brown, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that Porter failed the "Assessing, Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights Test" he gave Porter in 2002.

The tests challenges knowledge of the words in the Miranda rights advisement that police give to arrestees. The test also challenges a person's understanding of the exact meanings of sentences in the advisory and what is expected of the arrestee when being interrogated or in court.

Prosecutors scrutinized the test saying several of the words that Porter was asked to define weren't present on the Miranda rights card he was given by police officers. They also questioned whether the appropriate time to give the test was upon arrest or years later when someone claims they didn't understand their rights.

Brown said the test should be given when questions regarding whether a person understood their rights or not surfaced.

The hearing was scheduled to continue this afternoon.