'Roughly twenty.'
Terri flashed a grin. 'I guess the A.G.'s Office gives you the quick learners.' Among the onlookers, someone laughed. Before Bond, plainly annoyed, could crack his gavel, Terri asked, 'Outside testifying as an expert witness, what work have you done in the area of mental retardation?'
'Professional reading. Quite extensive, in fact.'
'Have you personally performed any research or written any articles?'
'No.'
Terri rested her hands on her hips. 'In short, Dr. Kuhl, your entire professional experience with mental retardation lies in finding roughly twenty death row inmates not retarded.'
Kuhl shifted his lean frame. 'After performing an examination to establish the proper basis for my opinion.'
'To 'establish a proper basis' for your opinion that Rennell Price is not retarded, how much time did you spend with him?'
'About two hours.'
' 'Hours,' did you say? Not 'days'?'
'I said hours.' A first trace of exasperation entered Kuhl's voice. 'In a case like this, one doesn't have days. And if we tested Rennell Price for days on end, you'd complain we were overtaxing him.'
Terri ignored this. 'Two hours,' she repeated. 'How many hours did it take you to form your professional opinion?'
Kuhl's restless fingers rubbed together more rapidly. 'Approximately nine.'
'How did you spend the extra seven hours?'
'Reading, mostly: Eddie Fleet's trial testimony, and Payton Price's deposition. Also, I interpreted Rennell's test scores.'
Terri gazed at him with curiosity. 'Did you interview anyone who knew Rennell?'
Kuhl rested his hands in his lap. 'The prison guard I mentioned.'
'The one who reported that he saw Rennell 'reading' a copy of Sports Illustrated?'
'Yes.'
'According to the school records you reviewed, what was Rennell's reading level?'
'In the seventh grade, I believe they estimated it to be roughly at the third-grade level—'
'After which,' Terri cut in, 'didn't his teacher recommend remedial education—specifically to help him read?'
'I believe so.'
'Did he ever receive any?'
Though Terri's voice had never changed, Kuhl had begun regarding her with wary eyes, which, even more frequently, darted toward Larry Pell. 'There's no record of that.'
'Did your testing give you any reason to believe that Rennell Price was able to read and comprehend the contents of Sports Illustrated?'
Kuhl frowned. 'Certainly, at that reading level, Rennell could pick out words.'
'Did you,' Terri inquired mildly, 'at least ask the guard if the magazine was right side up?'
'Objection,' Pell called out. 'The tone and substance of the question are sheer harassment.'
Before Bond could issue the reprimand his expression told her was coming, Terri said respectfully, 'I'll withdraw the question, Your Honor, and make my point another way.' Turning back to Kuhl, she asked, 'Do you know where Rennell got the magazine?'
'No.'
'According to Rennell, the guard gave it to him. In all of his time on death row, is there any record of Rennell ordering books from the prison library?'
'I don't know.'
'For the record, Dr. Kuhl, there is none. So why did you offer this vignette about Sports Illustrated as evidence that Rennell Price is not retarded?'
Kuhl shook his head. 'It was ancillary—'
'It was careless,' Terri snapped. 'So you're not suggesting to the Court that Rennell's close encounter with Sports Illustrated in any way bears on whether this Court should uphold his death sentence.'
'Of course not.'
'Good.' Terri's voice was cool now. 'You also mentioned that the evidence of Rennell Price's abuse rests 'almost entirely' on Payton's deposition. Do you remember the passage about Vernon Price forcing Rennell to sit naked on a space heater?'
'Yes.'
'Do you have any information regarding the accuracy of this account?'
