The man accused of killing a sheriffís deputy is competent to stand trial, but claims he is insane and mentally retarded.

Jorge Banda, 21, of Ivanhoe is being charged with the Dec. 17 killing of Detective Kent Haws of Exeter. At his arraignment last Thursday, Bandaís attorney entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Deputy District Attorney David Alavezos will try to prove that Banda knew what he was doing and announced that his office will pursue the death penalty. Because the murder charge includes special allegations of killing a police officer and acting as a member of a criminal street gang, Bandaís case would be eligible for the death penalty.

However, if Deputy Public Defender Neal Pedowitz can prove that his client is mentally retarded or mentally ill, Banda would not be eligible for the death penalty based on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The decision ruled that ìExecutions of mentally retarded criminals are ëcruel and unusual punishmentsí prohibited by the Eighth Amendment [of the U.S. Constitution].î

Judge Darryl Ferguson set a trial date of Jan. 27, 2009, but even before that can happen, a separate jury trial will have to be held to determine if Banda is mentally retarded or mentally ill. A jury has already found Banda mentally competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense following a competency trial last month. At that trial, the court played a tape of the Sheriffís Departmentís interview with Banda who was arrested moments after the shooting, which occurred on Road 152 north of Avenue 344 near Ivanhoe. During the interview, Banda said he was walking through the orchards because he was bored and admitted to shooting Haws because he was afraid of going to jail.

At an Aug. 28 preliminary hearing, Judge Ferguson deemed there was enough evidence to charge Banda with special allegations for killing a peace officer and being a member of a criminal gang. Two witnesses testified that they saw a man shoot and kill Haws, one of which identified him as the shooter in an interview following the hearing. The doctor who conducted the autopsy on Haws confirmed that the deputy was shot four times including once in the forehead, which he said was the cause of death. A detective with the Sheriffís Gang Suppression Unit, testified that Banda has a tattoo of one dot and three dots on his hand, a symbol for the number ë13í used by the Sureno gang, that he was wearing gang affiliated colors and clothing and that he purchased a gun matching the shell casings at the scene from a gang member.

Haws, a 39-year-old father of three, was found at the scene by deputies in the area. Haws was transported by ambulance to Kaweah Delta Hospital where, despite valiant attempts by medical staff to save his life, he died less than two hours later.

A crowd of about 2,000 people were in attendance at Hawsí funeral services on Dec. 21, 2007 in Visalia. A procession of more than 300 law enforcement vehicles escorted the Hawsí family limousines from the Visalia church to the Exeter Cemetery.

Thousands of people lined city streets in Visalia, overpasses and frontage roads along Highway 198 holding signs of love and support for the Haws family and law enforcement personnel.

Hundreds of residents waited for over an hour on Pine Street in downtown Exeter to show support for Haws whose family lives there. The procession wound through downtown Exeter and then headed back toward the freeway to the Exeter Cemetery for the graveside services.

Pedowitz also said he would request a change of venue for the trial because the amount of media coverage makes it difficult to give Banda a fair trial in Tulare County.

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