May 6, 2008, 11:24PM

Prosecutors try to disprove claim that defendant has an irregular brain

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Attorneys locked horns Tuesday in a battle of experts in the death penalty trial of Juan Leonardo Quintero, arguing whether the 34-year-old was insane when he shot Houston police officer Rodney Johnson in 2006.

Testimony of neuropsychologist Ruben Gur capped the defense case, saying that his tests reveal Quintero's brain is irregular and that irregularity may have contributed to psychological problems.

Prosecutors put on two doctors from a Houston medical imaging company who said they didn't see anything unusual about Quintero's brain.

The two sides clashed over whether Gur's work identifying brain problems was scientifically accurate. Prosecutors tried to show that Gur, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, used methods that are still experimental.

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