Judge refuses to dismiss death penalty case based on IQ test

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man convicted of killing four people in 2013 will continue to face a death penalty hearing this week.

Judge Peter Bataillon refused Monday to dismiss the death penalty case against Nikko Jenkins based on a 2003 IQ test in which Jenkins scored a 69.

State law says anyone who scores below a 70 is presumed to be mentally impaired and thus ineligible for the death penalty.

A three-judge panel is scheduled to spend most of the week hearing evidence from Jenkins’ case. The case will be the first opportunity for an inmate to be sentenced to death since voters reinstated the punishment last week.

The IQ test was done in a group setting and Jenkins refused to take a more detailed one before this week’s sentencing hearing.

During Monday’s hearing, Jenkins objected to his lawyer presenting the IQ test as evidence.

“I would like to waive this IQ testimony,” Jenkins said. “I’m not portraying that I’m under the threshold to procure the death penalty.”

Bataillon told Jenkins he couldn’t waive testimony about the test, which was done when he first entered prison.

Jenkins was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder for the August 2013 shooting deaths in and around Omaha of Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger in three separate attacks.

Kruger was his final victim. Prosecutors say Jenkins pulled Kruger from her car, shot her four times in the street and then stole her vehicle.

Jenkins pleaded no contest in 2014, but his sentencing has been delayed several times because of concerns about his competency.

A defense psychiatrist has testified at hearings that Jenkins suffers from schizophrenia and perhaps a bipolar disorder, while state psychiatrists have testified that Jenkins is faking mental illness.