'LUDICROUS' CLAIM

Koch testified this week that Public Defender Bennett Brummer told him not to do his best in defending Chavez because Brummer was worried about the political fallout from the high-profile case during an election year. Brummer called the claim ''ludicrous'' when he testified Wednesday.

For Ryce, and his wife Claudine, the recent hearings have dragged up old memories and forced them to relive images of their son dying. And they don't see the point.

''Sure, we need to make sure someone is guilty, but you don't do it by dragging everything out and game-playing,'' Don Ryce said Thursday.

`WAY TOO LONG'

''As lawyers, we understand and, as Americans, we understand that in capital cases you go out of your way to make sure you've done the right thing, but it's been 11 years. It's way too long,'' he added.

Ryce said he found insulting the claims that defense attorneys didn't work hard enough on the case.

''To us, it's a farce to claim that anyone was pulling any punches,'' he said. ``We even agreed to exhume the body before they backed off.''

The hearing, which began Tuesday, is scheduled to continue Jan. 23, with a doctor expected to testify about Chavez's mental and emotional state as a result of a difficult childhood.

Chavez is arguing that his attorneys should have called the doctor to testify on his behalf during the trial.

Chavez confessed to detectives that he raped and killed the boy and led them to crucial evidence in the case, the boy's dismembered body in concreted-over planters near his home.

Later he recanted his confession and testified at his trial, blaming another man for the child's murder.