At hearing, father tearfully confronts sex offender who raped, murdered his daughter

By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV
INVERNESS, Fla. — The father of a 9-year-old girl who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender tearfully addressed his daughter's killer Tuesday in a hearing to determine whether the capital murder defendant should be executed for his crimes.

"I hope you hear her cries as you try to sleep at night," said Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford. "I hope you saw the tears run down her face as she begged to go home." (VIDEO)

Lunsford urged the judge to follow a jury's recommendation and sentence John Couey to death for kidnapping, raping and murdering "Jessie" in February 2005.

In his brief victim impact statement to the court, Lunsford recounted raising Jessica as a single dad, recalling her habit of stealing raisins from his cereal bowl and the countless hugs and kisses they shared.

Dressed in a red prison jumpsuit at the defense table, Couey seemed to ignore the statement and talked with his attorneys, until Lunsford addressed him directly.

"I hope you spend the rest of your life in fear of death. You will never hurt another child again," Lunsford said, as Couey looked back at him.

Mark Lunsford's parents sat dabbing tears as their son read from a prepared statement, which brought a dramatic end to seven hours of otherwise technical and often tedious testimony in a hearing to determine if Couey suffers from mental retardation.

A psychologist who examined Couey in April 2007 testified that the 48-year-old did not meet the clinical threshold for mental retardation, despite what his lawyers claim.

Clinical psychologist Greg Prichard was appointed by the court to examine Couey after a jury convicted him in March of kidnapping Jessica from her bedroom, raping her in his nearby trailer and burying her in his backyard in 2005. The same jury also voted 10-2 in favor of a death sentence for Couey, who claims he should be spared execution by lethal injection because of mental retardation.

With Jessica's father and grandparents sitting in the Citrus County courtroom audience, Prichard presented his findings in a hearing to determine if Couey actually suffers from the condition.

A psychologist also testified Tuesday that Couey does not have mental retardation, as his defense claims.

Clinical psychologist Greg Prichard was appointed by the court to examine Couey after a jury convicted him in March of kidnapping Jessica from her bedroom, raping her in his nearby trailer and burying her in his backyard in 2005. The same jury also voted 10-2 in favor of a death sentence for Couey, who claims he should be spared execution by lethal injection because of mental retardation.

With Jessica's father and grandparents sitting in the Citrus County courtroom audience, Prichard presented his findings in a hearing to determine if Couey actually suffers from the condition.

If Circuit Judge Richard Howard finds that Couey, 48, has mental retardation, under Florida law, he would be barred from execution for possessing a lower level of criminal culpability. Alternately, Couey would automatically receive a sentence of life without parole.

Under Florida law, mental retardation is defined by sub-average intellectual and social functioning, evinced by an IQ lower than 70 and deficits in adaptive skills. Such traits must become manifest before age 18.

Based on an IQ score of 78 and evidence of average social and intellectual functioning, Prichard concluded that Couey did not suffer from mental retardation.

"His functioning, in terms of adaptive skills and intellectual capacity, is much too high for him to be considered mentally retarded," said Prichard, who evaluated Couey in April. "My opinion is that he is not mentally retarded."

Under questioning from defense lawyers, however, Prichard testified that he felt Couey was amenable to rehabilitation in a prison setting. Records of Couey's lengthy criminal history, including a conviction for exposing himself to a child, indicate that he sought sex offender treatment while in prison for the offense, but never received it.

The psychologist's opinion contradicted findings from defense psychologists, who testified in Couey's trial that he had an IQ of 64 and suffered from mental retardation, paranoid delusions and hallucinations.

In examining the discrepancies between the two IQs, Prichard said he relied on the higher score because it was impossible to artificially inflate intellect on a standardized test.

Lawyers for Couey chose not to call any witnesses during Tuesday's hearing, relying instead on evidence from the guilt phase of trial and their questioning of Prichard. Their decision to rely solely on trial testimony, however, delayed Judge Howard from making a ruling until he reviews transcripts of the testimony.

A tentative sentencing date has been set for Aug. 10.

Prichard testified that he based his findings of Couey's functional capabilities on interviews with people who knew him — in particular, his sister, Dorothy Dixon, and Tom Copp, Couey's construction supervisor, who let him live in his home for four months.

From the descriptions of Couey, Prichard said he identified numerous interpersonal, communication and daily living skills that were inconsistent with mental retardation, a condition marked by an inability to conform to norms for social responsibility and personal independence.

Among those characteristics, Prichard cited Couey's ability to keep a job at Wal-Mart for more than a year, manage his own finances and help his sister plan for her future after her husband died.

Prichard said that Copp described him as a "southern gentleman" who, while living in his home, engaged his wife in extensive conversations about spirituality and current news events.

Prichard said that both of the so-called "reporters" spoke of Couey's ability to ingratiate himself to others, in social situations and in the work place, where Couey was frequently asked to supervise day laborers when his boss needed extra help.

During nearly six hours of questioning from defense lawyer Dan Lewan, the psychologist conceded that Couey possessed several characteristics that fell within the borderline range for mental retardation, including impulsivity to risky behavior.

Specifically, Prichard referred to Dixon's comments that Couey would vanish for extended periods of time, in one instance, leading her to believe that he might be dead after he failed to call her disappeared for several weeks.

The doctor said that Couey's tendency toward impulsivity was at its worst when he was abusing alcohol and drugs, addictions that he was never able to fully kick.

Even so, Prichard noted, Couey made efforts to stay sober for periods at a time by attending AA meetings and searching for jobs which would keep him busy.

According to trial testimony, Couey and his sister were smoking crack the night he broke into the trailer where Jessica lived with her grandparents and abducted her.

Jessica's father urged the judge to uphold the jury's recommendation, calling it the ultimate justice for the loss sustained by not only his family, but the community where she lived.

Mark Lunsford remarked that the discovery of Jessica's body after a nationwide manhunt signaled the loss of innocence for Jessica's third-grade classmates at Homosassa Elementary School, who will be entering the sixth grade this fall.

Reflecting upon the family's loss, Lunsford noted that Jessica's older siblings had given birth to three boys since her death that she would never meet.

In his statement, Lunsford also referred to his personal crusade in the legislature for stricter laws against sex offenders, an effort which has become a full-time job for him since his daughter's death.

"Her death will change things across the land, but her life was worth so much more," Lunsford told the court, referring to Jessie's law, which Monday was signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Outside the Inverness courthouse after the hearing, Lunsford told members of the press that there was still work to be done to ensure that no more children would fall prey to habitual pedophiles.

"It's easy to find justice for murder victims with a death sentence, but what about the children who survive attacks from pedophiles?" Lunsford said. "We have to keep fighting to make sure that whenever someone harms a child, they pay the ultimate price so they don't have the chance to hurt another one."