After a hearing to determine his competency to be sentenced for murder Tuesday, Cleveland County District Judge Tom Lucas sentenced Lewis Eugene Gilbert to death by lethal injection to be carried out March 8, 1996.
The 24-year-old Ohio man was convicted Nov. 6 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery of Lake Stanley Draper security guard Roxy Ruddell. New Mexico police arrested Gilbert, along with 18-year-old Eric Elliot, in September 1994. Elliot is scheduled for a Jan. 18 preliminary hearing also in connection with Ruddell's death.
Prosecutor Rick Sitzman said Gilbert's case will automatically be handed over to a court of appeals, thus delaying the sentence from being carried out.
The competency hearing was an opportunity for defense attorneys Mark Barrett and Mike Wilson to prove Gilbert was not competent to be sentenced. Wilson called Barrett to the stand to testify to that effect.
"I believe Gilbert is not competent because he is unable to assist me with trial proceedings," Barrett said. "I also believe that there were some facts that Gilbert was unable to give me."
Barrett said he had problems communicating with Gilbert.
"I was concerned about Gilbert's reaction to the issue of opening a new trial," Barrett said. "I couldn't make it clear to him what I was trying to do by opening a new trial. That was the biggest problem."
District Judge Tom Lucas then questioned Gilbert, who remained standing with his attorneys. Gilbert stated his name, what he had been convicted of and what the jury's recommended sentence had been. He said he tried to give his attorneys information they wanted to know.
Despite the defense attorneys' attempts, Lucas sentenced Gilbert to be transported to the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington where he will eventually be put to death. Gilbert must make a formal appeal within 90 days.
"There's no doubt of the defendant's competency," Lucas said. "I have observed him in and out of the courtroom and I have read all of his statements and interviews. I believe he has had a fair trial.
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