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URBANA — No decision was made Tuesday on whether or not Ely Serna’s confession to a Jan. 20, 2017, school shooting at West Liberty-Salem High School will be admitted as evidence in his trial.
Champaign County Common Pleas Judge Nick Selvaggio said he would issue a ruling soon after hearing nearly four hours of testimony most from a forensic psychiatrist and a forensic psychologist.
At issue is whether or not Serna, now 18, was able to fully exercise his constitutional protections against self-incrimination and his right to legal counsel.
Dr. Daniel Davis, a forensic psychologist who tested Serna, believes the defendant’s severe depressive disorder and anxiety did not prevent him from understanding his Miranda rights, but he would have felt inferior with suicidal tendencies in the hour after the shooting at West Liberty-Salem High School.
Those emotions, Davis said, along with his childhood familiarity with Champaign County Sheriff’s Det. Glenn Kemp most likely compelled Serna to cooperate and answer questions rather than realize he did not have to.
“You may have the capacity to understand, but you may not be able to use that capacity,” he testified. “His depression and anxiety could’ve and very well did affect his ability to understand and exercise his rights.”
Read complete story in Wednesday’s Examiner.
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