An eastern New Orleans woman accused of beating a baby to death last April has an IQ of 56, and a reading level eight grades too low to have understood the rights she waived before confessing the crime to police, a doctor testified Thursday at a hearing at which the validity of that confession was at issue...
The baby was not Bernard's child. Her parents, neighbors said, were drug addicts and Bernard took her in out of pity. She bought her formula and diapers and nursed the underfed, malnourished child back to health. The child's parents traded her food stamps and vouchers in exchange for caring for the child...
Dr. Jill Hayes, a Louisiana State University neuropsychologist, testified that the Social Security Administration deemed Bernard mentally disabled at the age of 12. She has an IQ of 56, within the range of mildly to moderately disabled...
She also testified that people of Bernard's comprehensive level are more gullible, more easily tricked, and the three detectives who interrogated her during her taped confession suggested she might lose custody of her 8-year-old child if she didn't cooperate...
[Prosecutors] noted that she can drive, and can thus read and understand basic instructions like street signs.
