TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge says killer isn't mentally retarded

Charles Lorraine murdered two people in their home in Warren.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A killer will not be getting off death row anytime soon.
Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court denied Charles Lorraine's request Wednesday to be taken off death row because he is mentally retarded.
The judge said there is no evidence in his motion that Lorraine is mentally retarded.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded.
"We are very pleased with the judge's ruling," said Prosecutor Dennis Watkins. "We believed this was an obvious frivolous claim of mental retardation. Lorraine is a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer that deserves his seat on death row."
Lorraine was convicted in November 1986 of killing Raymond Montgomery, 77, and his wife, Doris, 80, in their home on Haymaker Avenue Northwest.
Lorraine's attorneys, Luigia Tenuta and Marc Triplett, could not be reached.
What was argued
Lorraine's motion said he should not be executed because his IQ is less than 70, a benchmark used to determine retardation by several states., including Ohio.
Prosecutors say that the average of all IQ tests given to Lorraine is 80 and that he displays his intelligence in a videotaped confession.
Six mental health experts testified at his trial that Lorraine is not retarded, prosecutors said.
"It is clear by the testimony of [Lorraine's] own psychiatric expert that he is not mentally retarded," the judge's ruling states. "He can lie, cheat, steal and abuse drugs. His unrelenting tendency to prey on the elderly in our community reveals that his crimes were committed with considerable foresight and frequently with self-serving excuses."
sinkovich@vindy.com