limitations?'
'They can.'
Terri skipped a beat. 'How do you know?'
Kuhl looked puzzled. 'I don't understand . . .'
'I mean, have you actually ever met a retarded person?'
Bond—she saw from his swift glance at the witness—perceived where Terri was going. But the witness did not seem to. 'I still don't understand.'
'Let's break it down. You've never met one on death row, correct?'
Kuhl's shoulders twitched. 'That's not what I said . . .'
'What you said, Doctor, is that none of the inmates you've examined for retardation were, in your opinion, retarded. Is that correct?'
'Yes.'
'And you never met a retarded person in your practice, because you have no practice—correct?'
Kuhl hesitated. 'Correct.'
'How long has it been since you became a psychologist?'
'Seventeen years.'
'And in all those years, you never met a single retarded person?'
'I've certainly encountered them in life . . .'
'On the street, but not on death row?' Terri summoned a tone of mock bewilderment. 'How did you know they were retarded?'
'It was obvious . . . ,' Kuhl began, and then his voice trailed off. 'What I mean is, their conduct, combined with their appearance, clearly suggested retardation.'
'But you didn't actually test them.'
'Of course not.'
'Well, based on your reading about retarded people, can you always determine by observation whether someone is retarded?'
'Of course not. That's why we have a regime of testing.'
'And in your regime of testing, you've never found anyone you tested to be mentally retarded.'
'Asked and answered,' Pell called out.
'Point made,' Bond told her with a look of annoyance. 'Move on.'
Kuhl looked toward the judge. 'If I may say one thing, Your Honor. During my medical education, I encountered a number of persons—often in public mental facilities—who had been found to be retarded.'
'But not by you,' Terri said. 'Correct?'
Turning, the witness summoned an expression which, Terri supposed, was meant to be long-suffering. 'Not by me, counselor. But I was able to observe them.'
'Did all of their eyes bug out?' Holding up a hand, she said, 'Forgive me, Your Honor. I'll move on.'
'Please do.'
'This morning, Dr. Kuhl, you said there was no evidence that Rennell Price suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome or organic brain damage. Is it possible to have either, or both, while having a 'normal' appearance?'
'That's possible, yes.'
'And that a CAT scan won't necessarily reveal either?'
'That's true.'
'And that the so-called practice effect could have improved Rennell's scores on the tests you gave him to evaluate his IQ?'
'That's also true.' Kuhl's voice held a trace of exasperation. 'Which is why I emphasize forensic behavioral analysis, re-creating a defendant's actions in his normal life.'
'Let's break that down. You'll concede that Rennell's 'normal life' on death row does not refute the assertion that he's retarded?'
'Not in itself, no . . .'
'Isn't it also true that—based on your nine-hour review—you are aware of nothing which makes his academic failure more likely to be willful than a sign of retardation?'
'Other than his own admission.'
' 'Other than his own admission,' ' Terri repeated softly. 'I guess that leaves us with all those deliberate things he did in the commitment of this crime. Of course, if Payton Price were telling the truth, those things never happened, did they?'
'If Payton were telling the truth,' the witness rejoined, 'Rennell's innocent, retarded or no. But that's not what the jury found.'
