Appeal on mental incompetence denied

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- The California State Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal by a convicted murderer who said he shouldn't have been allowed to defend himself at trial.

Acting again in his own defense, Keith Desmond Taylor argued he had not been mentally competent to represent himself in his 1994 trial in the slaying of a developmentally disabled Redlands, Calif., woman, the (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported.

Before his murder trial, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge rejected Taylor's request to act as his own lawyer. The case was passed on to another judge who agreed to let Taylor conduct his own defense, the newspaper reported Thursday.

Reviews by two subsequent psychologists showed Taylor had personality disorder and low intelligence, with one doctor finding he might have had difficulty without a lawyer.

The Supreme Court ruled because neither psychologist found severe mental illness or psychosis, there were no errors in the initial trial and let the death sentence stand, the Press-Enterprise said.