I Speak for Cheryl (5): We All Want to Know "Why is He Suddenly Intellectual Disability"
After Ferjus Moore was charged with first-degree murder, in death of my sister, Cheryl A. Bethea on August 25, 2014, the death penalty was sought by Forsyth County Assistant District Attorneys, Jennifer Martin and Matt Breeding, then approved by Judge Edwin Wilson.
As I mention, in previous a blog, Ferjus spent a couple years in the Forsyth County jail while decisions were being made and adjusted from trial to hearings and death penalty to incompetent to stand trial.
Attorneys representing Ferjus Moore, left, Botchin and right, Rabil.
During the two years, students at Wake Forest University School of Law had been working on the Capital murder case, initially, in which, Ferjus Moore was enrolled into the Innocence and Justice Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law, where Professor Mark Rabil is the director of the clinic as well as, one of Ferjus Moore's attorneys.
According to the Wake Forest Office of Communications and Public Relations, Professor Mark Rabil explains, “We are one of the few law schools in the country where students have the opportunity to work on death penalty cases at the trial level. This is because I am appointed to represent individuals charged with capital murder and I believe it is very important for students to be exposed to serious criminal cases.”
Professor/Attorney Rabil said throughout this case law students were able to interview the client, interview witnesses, work with experts, gather records, prepare exhibits, write motions, particular in strategy sessions and go to court with him.
“This case is particularly instructional because it involves the issue of intellectual disability, which makes a person ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court case law. Our intellectual disability calls into question whether he has the capacity to go to trial. Exposure to these issues is very important to future prosecutors, defense lawyers and judgement,” said Rabil.
Brad Simon, a law student working on the case, feels fortunate to have had this unique experience of working on a Capital murder case.
“Very few law schools offer such an opportunity, and I am grateful Wake Forest is one of them,” Simon says. “From working with the experts and interviewing witnesses, to visiting the client and building a relationship, to learning from Professor Mark Rabil and Attorney David Botchin, this was by far one of the most influential experiences I have had in law school. This tremendous possibility would not have been imaginable if not for Professor Rabil. He trusts and believes in his students, which allows us to partake in unbelievable learning experiences like this one.”
This information is according to the News and Events, Student Life, at Wake Forest University School of Law, by Lisa Snedeker.
Professor/Attorney Mark Rabil was Darryl Hunt's original Attorney.
Attorney David Botchin represented Anthony Vinh Nguyen in the fatally shooting of Shelia Pace Gooden in 2013.
Now, can you'll understand, why, I have been amazed and frustrated, as to how this case has gone, nowhere! Well here is why. Ferjus Moore's attorneys and their team of doctors have strategized and basically bought time to study Ferjus by gathering their precious data for their own research while dumbing him down with a variety of cognitive assessments that your wise, clever, and common sense grandmother or great-grandmother would not be capable of obtaining a high score, not because she is retarded or dumb, but she is simply uneducated and has not had the exposure to certain affluences around the globe.
Grandmother is most likely saying, "Boy... you are really DUMB!...your common sense gone, since you've been locked up in that medical facility, but you certainly knew what you were doing on the night you killed that girl?"
