Lawyer Considers Insanity Plea for Caro

Murder defendant Socorro “Cora” Caro probably will amend her not-guilty plea to include an insanity defense in the Nov. 22 shooting deaths of three of her young sons, her lawyer said Tuesday.

After Caro’s arraignment in Ventura County Superior Court, Assistant Public Defender Jean Farley told reporters that she is considering a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, pending reports from mental health experts.

“That is something that is being considered right now,” said Farley, who emphasized that no final decision has been made.

Caro, 43, is accused of fatally shooting the children, ages 5, 8 and 11, as they slept at the family’s upscale Santa Rosa Valley home. She has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, and a trial is set for Oct. 23.

Farley hinted at a possible insanity defense during a hearing last month when she told Judge Art Gutierrez that her client’s mental condition was emerging as a significant issue.

On Tuesday, she went a step further by telling Gutierrez that she would probably request another arraignment in the next month because “an additional plea” was being considered.

By entering a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, Caro would admit no wrongdoing and stand trial for murder. If convicted, she would face a second phase dealing solely with the question of sanity.

Under state law, a defendant cannot be held responsible for a crime if, because of a mental defect, he or she was unable to understand the difference between right and wrong at the time of the crime.

If a jury were to conclude that Caro was insane at the time of the shootings, she would be confined in a state mental hospital until a judge determined that her sanity was fully recovered.

Farley declined Tuesday to discuss her client’s mental state now or at the time of the shootings.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said they are close to announcing whether they will seek the death penalty in the case.

“I expect it will probably be within the month,” said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Ellison.

Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson said the opinions of mental health experts probably will play a key role in how the prosecution and the defense proceed to trial.

“Both sides need that information to decide on their strategies,” Levenson said.

Caro, a former manager at her husband’s Northridge medical office, faces a special allegation that she committed multiple murders that makes her eligible for the death penalty.

Authorities say she shot three of her four sons in the head with a small-caliber handgun as the children slept in their beds. The fourth child, a toddler, was unharmed.

Xavier Caro returned home from his office about 11 p.m. to find his children slain and his wife suffering from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.

He later filed for divorce and is pursuing a wrongful-death claim against his wife of 13 years.

Authorities have not suggested a motive for the shootings. But during a preliminary hearing earlier this year, Cora Caro’s mother testified that her daughter was distraught after being kicked and battered by her husband.

After the slaying, friends expressed shock at the tragedy and described Caro as a churchgoer and devoted mother who volunteered at her children’s elementary school. She has no prior criminal history.

For those reasons and others, Farley said, she is “guardedly optimistic” that prosecutors will decide not to seek the death penalty.

To do otherwise, Farley said, “would be an extraordinarily bad decision in this case.”

The California Penal Code sets out a list of criteria for jurors to follow in deciding whether to impose the death penalty, such as whether a defendant has a violent past or prior felony convictions or was under emotional duress at the time of the crime.

Farley said Tuesday that the factors are all in her client’s favor, and she plans to argue her case to the district attorney in a few weeks.