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Serial killer's lawyer tries to stall New England execution

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- An attorney for the serial killer who has tried to speed his own execution will now seek a delay so that a hearing can examine his mental competence, according to a published report.

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Michael Ross' attorney, T. R. Paulding, planned to file court papers today that could prompt a hearing to resolve questions about Ross' competence. The execution, scheduled for tonight, would be the first in New England in 45 years.

"We will seek a full, fair and complete assessment of all the evidence relative to his competence," Paulding told The Hartford Courant. "Mr. Ross has authorized me to take the steps that make that happen."

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said today he had expected some sort of action would be taken that could delay the execution.

"We have received no formal notification, but there are reports that Michael Ross will request some proceeding and the law clearly and absolutely requires that such a request be met," Blumenthal said.

Ross, a 45-year-old Cornell University graduate, has confessed to eight murders in eastern Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s. He has said he wants to die to end the pain for the families of his victims.

Ross had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection Saturday, but Paulding asked for a delay so he could explore a possible conflict of interest.

Paulding said Sunday that he has no plans to stop representing Ross, a decision that state officials had said would keep Ross on track to be put to death tonight.

"I have no intention of leaving the case," Paulding said in a brief interview Sunday with The Associated Press. "I'm still working on what to do." Paulding said he planned to update the public Monday morning.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Ross' father said he may file another appeal Monday.

"We're going to work up until the last minute," said Antonio Ponvert III, an attorney representing Ross' father, Dan Ross.

Paulding, who was hired to help Ross end his appeals and accept the death penalty, asked that the execution be delayed Saturday morning after U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny accused him of not adequately investigating claims that Ross was mentally incompetent to make the decision to die.

Chatigny castigated Paulding for not investigating new evidence in the case. The evidence, including accounts from another inmate and a retired deputy warden, have indicated that deplorable conditions on death row may have influenced Ross' decision.

"I see this happening and I can't live with it myself," Chatigny said in a telephone conference with Paulding, according to court records. "What you are doing is terribly, terribly wrong."