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After defense attorneys rested their case Wednesday in the capital murder punishment trial of Clifton Lamar Williams, prosecutors began their rebuttal evidence with nearly a dozen of the defendant's schoolteachers.

Williams, 23, was convicted by a Smith County jury of capital murder for beating, strangling and stabbing to death 93-year-old Cecelia Schneider before setting her body on fire and stealing her purse and car. He faces life in prison or the death penalty.

Dr. James Patton, an expert on special education, reviewed the records in the case and interviewed Williams and his family members for the defense. He said Williams had "significant limitations in adaptive functioning" prior to age 18 in three areas: functional academics, home living and community use. Patton said adaptive functioning is looking at the person's ability to function over time on a regular basis.

"An individual can have certain strengths along with certain deficits," he said.

He said there were questions about Williams' abilities to perform certain tasks that he did not ask William about, but instead questioned his father and stepmother. He said he did not believe at the time that he needed to ask Williams the questions, including whether he could prepare a meal, shop for groceries, use the telephone, wash clothes or manage money - all things Patton said Williams had deficits in.

He said the longest Williams held a job was for four months at KFC, where he was a cook and cashier at age 17.

Patton said he did not ask Williams about any drug use because he didn't believe it was significant. He said drugs can affect adaptive functioning, but are not the main cause of deficits. He said mental illness can also influence adaptive functioning.

SCHOOL YEARS

Carole Dobrosky was Williams' first-grade teacher at East Side Elementary School in Jacksonville. His grades ranged from B's to D's and he had failing grades in reading, spelling and language arts. She recommended that Williams repeat the first grade.

Children must be 6 when they start first grade, and Williams had been 6 for a week, she said, adding that his young age was a possible factor in his lack of success. The second time Williams took the first grade, he made a "vast" improvement with his grades, she said.

Ms. Dobrosky said there was no indication that Williams was mentally retarded or needed to be in special education classes. She said she believed he was trying his best in class and he was given extra help in reading from teacher's aides and tutorials.

Ms. Dobrosky said students who have academic problems can be administered a "battery of tests," including an IQ test, but she knew Williams was learning and reading. She said it is possible that a mentally retarded child can't learn the alphabet or read at that level.

She said a person can be retained for a year only once in the first five grades, then must be socially promoted. But, she said, teachers do everything they can to remediate the child.

Nancy Williams, Williams' second-grade teacher, said he was a "good, solid B student," that he earned his grades and that there was no indication that he was mentally retarded or needed to be in special education classes.

She said it would cause her concern if a student with good grades did not pass a standardized achievement test, on which records show Williams scored below average. She said there are a lot of reasons why children would not do well on a standardized test, such as not feeling well or not eating breakfast that day, not being good test-takers, being nervous, or not putting forth an effort because it did not affect their grades. She said she'd rather look at the student's performance on a daily basis in class for the entire year.

Melynda Cundieff taught Williams in the third grade and said he had "average" grades. She said he was required to take the state's TAAS standardized test (now TAKS) for the first time. Records show that Williams failed the reading portion of the test and scored lower than average in math on an achievement test. She said she was not sure whether the poor test results indicated that he was not retaining what he was learning. He was a "very hard worker," and there is a multitude of reasons why students don't test well on standardized tests, she said.

Ms. Cunieff said she didn't think the standardized tests were a waste of time, but she said it is difficult to put so much stock in a test that is only one day out of the entire school year.

Christie O'Neal, who taught Williams reading at Boulter Middle School during the last 12 weeks of his seventh-grade year, after he transferred from Jacksonville, said he made six-week averages of 67 and 92. She said his grades showed her that he had apparently gotten his priorities straight and made more of an effort, and that he was "fully capable" for the seventh-grade reading level.

Dawn Darden, Williams' eighth-grade math teacher at Moore Middle School, said he had a final grade average of 79, which is an "average" student. She said there was nothing that made her believe Williams was mentally retarded or needed to be in special education classes. She said it would be difficult to believe that a student with a learning disability could make such good grades as A's, B's and C's. Williams made a 65 the last term of the year.

Lewis Riley taught Williams' 10th-grade class in communications applications, or speech, at John Tyler High School. He said it is common for students to not want to talk in front of the class and he makes accommodations to help them through the class. Williams made poor grades and received no credit, possibly because of lack of attendance, he said.

He said Williams' grades throughout the semester and an "incomplete" for a six-week period probably showed that Riley gave him a chance to bring up his grades and complete his work so he wouldn't fail the class, but Williams did not. Riley said it appeared that Williams had a "lack of interest in doing any work ... (and) an unwillingness to cooperate." He said he never thought that Williams could not do the work in his class.

He testified to Williams' behavior that led to detentions, including when he stuck a student with a safety pin and refused to do schoolwork in class.

Ronald Wilson taught Williams animal science, which he said was "a very hard course," in the 11th grade, for which Williams made an 80 average for the semester. Wilson said he was impressed that Williams made a 91 for the hardest six weeks, improving from the C's he made before. He said it showed him that Williams was a "pretty sharp kid that's trying to improve," adding that his behavior also improved throughout the semester. Wilson said he did send Williams to the principal's office a few times for his attitude and behavior.

Defense attorneys asked the teachers about the discrepancies in Williams' grades throughout the school years and his inability to pass an entire TAAS test when he took the standardized tests in the third through 10th grades.

Ms. Dobrosky, Ms. Williams, Wilson, Ms. Cundieff, Ms. Darden and Ms. O'Neal each testified that they put more faith in the grades throughout the school year than the scores of the standardized tests, and that there are many reasons a student could do well in school and poorly on the standardized tests. Most of the teachers said they would not have the achievement tests or the TAAS or TAKS tests if it was up to them.

A forensic psychologist, who was hired by the defense to examine Williams and review the case, has testified that he diagnosed Williams with mild mental retardation.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing the mentally retarded is unconstitutional.

The trial in 114th District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent's court will continue with the state's rebuttal evidence on Thursday. Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham and First Assistant DA April Sikes are prosecuting the case, while defense attorneys Melvin Thompson and LaJuanda Lacy are representing Williams.

Casey Knaupp covers county, state and federal courts. She can be reached at 903.596.6289. e-mail: news@tylerpaper.com"> news@tylerpaper.com