ng time for her to get Jimmy to say anything to her. He acted shy and scared, as though he saw her more as a school principal than as his attorney. After several visits, he finally began responding to her questions, but most of his answers consisted of shrugs, nods, and partial sentences.Over the course of several interviews, his explanations of the evening came out in unrelated pieces that failed to produce a consistent picture. For example, he eventually told her he was with two other boys the night of the murder, but he said he didn't know who they were, causing the lawyer to question whether Jimmy was fabricating or protecting the other boys. Further, it was impossible to understand, from Jimmy's account, exactly when and where he was with the other boys. She soon found, however, that Jimmy described other events in this same manner, even those which he had no reason to avoid or conceal. The attorney hoped her line of defense never required Jimmy to testify; it would be a disaster. When it came time to decide whether to plead guilty, Jimmy grew increasingly apathetic, distant, and disinterested. Despite the attorney's careful efforts to explain the potential consequences of a conviction, and Jimmy's ability to seemingly understand, she began to doubt whether Jimmy had any real notion of a long-range future. As far as she could tell, he rarely thought beyond the Nintendo sessions that the detention center allowed him every afternoon. Her concern about his ability to comprehend the true details of his legal predicament increased when, contrary to her advice, Jimmy said he wanted to plead guilty.” (See: Juvenile competency to stand trial: Questions in an era of punitive reform, by Thomas Grisso)Cases like Jimmy’s have to be closely looked at. For example, in Georgia, a twelve year old boy was charged with aggravated sodomy of two younger children. The defense attorney argued that the youth was diagnosed with mental retard...
