Henley’s Attorneys to Fight Court’s Psychiatric Exam

by Houston (AP)

Attorneys for Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. were to go to court today to battle a state attempt to force a psychiatric examination of the youth, one of two teenagers accused in the largest mass murder in the nation’s history. Charles Melder, a defense lawyer, blocked an examination by the Harris County psychiatric unit Tuesday but said Henley, 17, probably would be in court for today’s hearing. “I never, heard of such a motion nor has any other lawyer,” Melder said in an interview. Assistant District Attorney Mike Hinton said the prosecution was making the unusual move because of the extreme atrocity and depravity of the killings.

“Twenty-seven bodies of teenage boys and young men have been unearthed since Henley called police August 8 to tell them he had killed Corll, 33, the alleged mastermind of a homosexual procurement, rape and slaying ring. Henley has been indicted separately in two of the 27 slayings and jointly with David O. Brooks, 18, in a third death. Henley was also charged with three of the murders by St. Augustine County authorities and has told police he took part in nine of the slayings. Brooks said he witnessed some of the killings but denied taking any direct part. “We feel sure both defendants are mentally competent under the law,” Hinton said. “We are just trying to be extra cautious.

If a psychiatrist found him (Henley) incompetent, we would bring that evidence to the attention of the court and ask that he be committed to Rusk (a state hospital for the insane).” Melder maintains a defendant cannot be forced by a court to talk to a psychiatrist hired by the prosecution. Melder said such a requirement would violate Fifth Amendment guarantees against self-incrimination. The total of identified dead reached 12 Wednesday as pathologists identified three more bodies. They were Wally Jay Simoneaux, 14, Houston; Jeffrey Allen Konen, 21, Houston; and Raymond Stanley Blackburn, 20, of Baton Rouge, La. Meanwhile, Dallas police investigated what appeared to be a homosexual procurement operation that extended across the country. “Based on my investigation, I have reason to believe Dean Corll was connected with that ring in Dallas,” Melder said. But authorities said there appeared to be no link between the ring and the mass slayings.