Jury deliberations could begin today in Rubio competency trial

Jury deliberations could begin today in the competency trial of accused child killer John Allen Rubio.

State prosecutors and defense attorneys were expected to finish presenting evidence in the case late Thursday afternoon.

Rubio, 29, is accused of murdering the three children of his common-law wife in Brownsville on March 11, 2003. The children were smothered, stabbed and mutilated, according to Brownsville police investigators. Their decapitated bodies were stuffed inside trash bags.

The competency case is being heard by visiting state District Judge Noe Gonzalez, of Hidalgo County’s 138th District Court.

At issue is whether Rubio is competent now to stand trial. Rubio’s defense team must prove that he is incompetent to stand trial on capital murder charges. Under the Texas Penal Code, an individual is deemed incompetent if he doesn’t have the ability to consult with his attorneys with a reasonable degree of understanding or factual understanding of the proceedings against him.

On Thursday, the jury heard from George Frederick Haley, a former Cameron County jailer, who testified that he was in charge of supervising Rubio.

Haley testified that he never heard Rubio make mention of being "the chosen one." He also testified that Rubio never mentioned hearing voices or having hallucinations.

"He was more grown up now and more sure of himself" then he was when he was first incarcerated in March 2003, Haley testified. "Before, he was like a scared kid, someone first entering the military. Now he’s grown up. He’s more of a man."

Also testifying was James Seward, a neuropsychologist, who examined Rubio to determine his competency.

Seward testified that he conducted 11 hours worth of face-to-face interviews with Rubio over a period of two days in July of last year. During the interviews, Seward testified that Rubio was "extremely respectful and polite."

Seward also testified that Rubio talked about how "messed up things were" and that he was also having thoughts about "his deceased children."

The face-to-face talks and testing that Seward conducted on Rubio led him to believe that Rubio had no cognitive or learning impairments that would cause him to be incompetent, Seward testified.

Defense attorneys questioned why Seward did not attempt to interview Rubio’s brothers and mother to gather more input on Rubio’s intellect and a delusional disorder they claim he suffers from. Seward said the issues Rubio faced while growing up are not pertinent to determine whether he is competent now.

"What you folks have to decide is how he’s doing now, not how he was doing as a child," Seward told the jury.

Seward also testified that Rubio was diagnosed as suffering from some type of schizophrenia while incarcerated at a Texas Department of Criminal Justice institution on the original conviction.

Rubio was convicted in November 2003 on three counts of capital murder in the deaths of the children, Julissa Quesada, 3, John E. Rubio, 14 months, and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months.

Rubio is the biological father of one of the children, Mary Jane.

He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity during the trial and was sentenced to death.

Angela Camacho, 30, the common-law wife, pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder in July 2005 in the deaths of her children. Authorities said Camacho gave the knife to Rubio that he used to behead the children. She also was accused of holding down the children while they were killed.

Rubio’s conviction was reversed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in September 2007, thus granting him a new trial. The appellate court cited the prosecution’s use in Rubio’s trial of videotaped testimony from the common-law wife, Camacho.

Camacho, who refused to testify in Rubio’s trial, did not have an attorney present when she gave the videotaped testimony to police. Also, Rubio’s defense attorneys claimed they were at a disadvantage because they were not able to challenge the videotaped testimony.