Another TX execution controversy

[karinothing]

www.npr.org/2014/11/26/366788633/texas-execution-nears-for-murderer-whose-competence-was-debated


Summary: Basically the man set to be executed is severely mentally ill. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The murders were committed during an episode when he believe his inlaws were filled with the devil. He was dressed and acted as one of his alter egos at the time. For some reason Texas found him competent to stand trial and at the time this meant he was competent to defend himself. He dressed in costume during the trial, spoke in gibberish and had his alter egos testify. The jurors admitted being scared by him and noting that a different outcome would have happened had he had a lawyer. He is still delusional and not fully aware of why he is being put to death (states it is because he preaches to other death row inmates). He is to be put to death today if no court comes through.


Article:

On Dec. 3, Texas is scheduled to execute Scott Panetti for murdering his in-laws in 1992. There is no doubt he committed the crime, and there is also no doubt that Panetti is mentally ill. But he was deemed fit to stand trial, and he was allowed to defend himself, dressing in a cowboy costume in court, insisting he was a character from a John Wayne movie.

Over the course of the last two decades — and many appeals — his case has gained national attention, and it has shone a spotlight on capital punishment and mental illness.

A Diagnosis

Since the 1970s, Panetti has had a long and extensively documented history of mental illness. He got his first diagnosis in 1978 while being treated for burns in at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Panetti had been electrocuted while working for the power company.

"The doctors thought he was acting oddly, and they called in a psychiatrist to evaluate him," says Kathryn Kase, his death penalty lawyer. "And the psychiatrist realized that he was experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, and at the age of 20 he diagnosed him with the beginnings of schizophrenia."

For a while Panetti was able to keep his life together with the help of medication. He worked, married, had children and did his best to live a normal life. But his mental illness got progressively worse.

"One day, his wife came home, and she found him burying the furniture in the front yard. And of course, she knew he was mentally ill, but she was appalled by this, and as she approached him he ran into the house and started nailing the curtains together. And when she questioned him, he told her that he needed to bury the furniture in order to get the devil out of it," Kase says.

The voices in Panetti's head grew worse. There was Sgt. Ranahan, who donned Army fatigues and made armed patrols of the backyard for enemies. There was Wounded Songbird, a thoughtful Native American warrior.

Panetti would dress up in cowboy outfits and swagger around Fredericksburg, Texas, where they lived. Kase says Panetti's paranoia about the devil got so bad that his wife had him committed to a mental hospital in Waco.
Related NPR Stories
Justices Weigh Mental Illness, Death Penalty
High Court Blocks Mentally Ill Inmate's Execution

"She committed him, and she told the doctors that 'Now he had this delusion about the devil,' " she says. "And like many people with paranoid schizophrenia, he developed a very specific delusion, and this was all about religion."

He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and chronic schizophrenia.

A Texas judge granted Panetti's wife a divorce, and she moved back to Wisconsin with the three children. After a couple of years, Panetti began dating a new woman, a Fredericksburg waitress, got her pregnant and eventually married her. This would prove a disaster. His new in-laws repeatedly reprimanded Panetti for his paranoid behavior. So his lawyer says that one night, Panetti dressed up as Sgt. Ranahan, shaved his head, painted his face camouflage and sawed off the barrel of his .30-06.

"And his paranoia takes over and he believes that they are filled with the devil, and he grabs his wife, he grabs his young child and he goes to his in-laws, and he shot them," Kase says.

Three years later, in 1995, in the small Hill Country town of Kerrville, Texas, Panetti was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death. For many, the heinous crime had resulted in a just and inevitable verdict. Others believe Panetti's case has been a miscarriage of justice.

"I think it's a travesty, I really do. I don't believe he got a fair trial. I don't believe that any of the proceedings through which he went were fair," says Charles Ewing, a forensic psychologist and law professor at SUNY Buffalo. He's the author of Insanity: Murder, Madness and the Law, which has a full chapter on the Panetti case.

"I don't believe that Panetti was competent to stand trial. He paraded about the courtroom dressed in a cowboy costume and acted in a menacing, threatening and incoherent manner," Ewing says.

A Legal Standard Put To The Test

At the time of Panetti's trial, the legal standard was that if a defendant was ruled competent to stand trial then they were also competent to represent themselves in court.

But the Panetti trial put that standard to the test. Off his medication, Panetti dressed in a purple cowboy costume, insisted he was the Ringo Kid from the movie Stagecoach and babbled around the courtroom incomprehensibly. He subpoenaed Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy and Pope John Paul II in his defense. Ewing says the judge also inexplicably allowed Panetti to approach the jury box. The jurors would lean away in their chairs. After the trail was over, a few of the jurors said Panetti scared them.

"His demeanor was frightening to the jurors and they saw him as a crazy man. Some of the jurors said that had he been represented by counsel, they doubted that he would have been sentenced to death," Ewing says.

Panetti's lawyers appealed, arguing that the mentally ill man should never have been allowed to represent himself. But both the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Panetti had knowingly waived his right to counsel. E. Bruce Curry, the district attorney in the case, declined to comment. But Rusty Hubbarth, a Texas lawyer and vice president of Justice for All, a pro-death penalty organization, believes the appeals courts got it right.

"There isn't a question of guilt or innocence here. It's not as if he was convicted last week and is being executed two weeks from now. He has enjoyed due process," Hubbarth says,

An execution date in 2004 was stayed after his lawyers argued Panetti didn't know why he was being put to death. His lawyers say he has an ongoing delusion that he's being executed for preaching the gospel to death row inmates. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, ruling that a defendant must have a rational understanding of the reasons for his imminent execution.

But Texas insists Panetti understands well enough and on Tuesday, in a 5-4 decision, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Panetti a stay of execution and refused to appoint mental health experts to his case. Hubbarth endorses the state's position arguing that being mentally ill does not excuse capital murder.

"We've executed people in Texas before that exhibited mental illness. Mental illness does not constitute a block for execution," he says.

Penetti's lawyers have not given up. The landmark case is being appealed again to the federal district court on the grounds that Panetti should indeed have a right to a competency hearing. But Panetti's time is almost out. Without reprieve he'll be executed next Wednesday.

[karinothing]

We all know I am against the death penalty, but I really can't believe this case. I mean yes he is guilty, but it doesn't seem like the death penalty should be used on people that are obviously delusional (and were at the time of the murder).

[iammalcolmx]

He dressed in costume during the trial, spoke in gibberish and had his alter egos testify.

I am one of the board heathens but I stopped reading at this. Why did they sentence this man to death?

[karinothing]

Dec 3, 2014 9:32:58 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

He dressed in costume during the trial, spoke in gibberish and had his alter egos testify.

I am one of the board heathens but I stopped reading at this. Why did they sentence this man to death?

Yeah, I don't know. They said they wouldn't have if he had had a lawyer. I think probably because he learned close to the jury box and spoke in a threatening manner and got on the stand and started saying "boom boom blood." I am not sure if the jury was told to take his mental health into consideration (I haven't researched it much before the NPR stories I have heard, and it doesn't go into that).

[karinothing]

Dec 3, 2014 9:36:14 GMT -5 jillianashley6 said:

Jesus. I'm pretty anti-death penalty as well, and I am HORRIFIED that they are executing this man. WTF Texas?

Yeah, it seems like at least since this case, that the law has changed and that being competent to stand trial =/= an ability to represent oneself.

[ESF]

This article is a week old, so it leaves an important fact out. The state never told this man's lawyer that the execution had been scheduled. Because it wouldn't be a Texas execution unless there were multiple due process violations.

So instead the lawyer read about it in the news last week. Ordinarily, they are supposed to have 30 days advance notice so they can have one last chance to have the execution stayed or reversed. Now he's scrambling to get it stayed.

[karinothing]

Dec 3, 2014 10:11:53 GMT -5 ESF said:

This article is a week old, so it leaves an important fact out. The state never told this man's lawyer that the execution had been scheduled. Because it wouldn't be a Texas execution unless there were multiple due process violations.

So instead the lawyer read about it in the news last week. Ordinarily, they are supposed to have 30 days advance notice so they can have one last chance to have the execution stayed or reversed. Now he's scrambling to get it stayed.

Oh wow. I just heard an update on NPR this morning and they didn't mention that tidbit. That is horrible. Shouldn't the lack of notification mean an automatic stay?

[ESF]

Dec 3, 2014 10:18:28 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 3, 2014 10:11:53 GMT -5 ESF said:

This article is a week old, so it leaves an important fact out. The state never told this man's lawyer that the execution had been scheduled. Because it wouldn't be a Texas execution unless there were multiple due process violations.

So instead the lawyer read about it in the news last week. Ordinarily, they are supposed to have 30 days advance notice so they can have one last chance to have the execution stayed or reversed. Now he's scrambling to get it stayed.

Oh wow. I just heard an update on NPR this morning and they didn't mention that tidbit. That is horrible. Shouldn't the lack of motivation mean an automatic stay?

The governor can issue a 30 day stay but so far, he hasn't, because the governor is Rick Perry.

[karinothing]

Dec 3, 2014 10:25:29 GMT -5 ESF said:

Dec 3, 2014 10:18:28 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Oh wow. I just heard an update on NPR this morning and they didn't mention that tidbit. That is horrible. Shouldn't the lack of motivation mean an automatic stay?

The governor can issue a 30 day stay but so far, he hasn't, because the governor is Rick Perry.

I realized I said motivation not notification, glad you know what I meant. Is that really the only recourse? Can he appeal to fed court to get it out of TX's hands.

[pixy0stix]

Dec 3, 2014 9:32:58 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

He dressed in costume during the trial, spoke in gibberish and had his alter egos testify.

I am one of the board heathens but I stopped reading at this. Why did they sentence this man to death?

Yup.

[secretlyevil]

Holy hell

[emisi]

Dec 3, 2014 9:32:58 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

He dressed in costume during the trial, spoke in gibberish and had his alter egos testify.

I am one of the board heathens but I stopped reading at this. Why did they sentence this man to death?

Because it's Texas, and they like killing people.  Unless it's a fetus, then it's sacred.

[ESF]

Dec 3, 2014 10:29:23 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 3, 2014 10:25:29 GMT -5 ESF said:

The governor can issue a 30 day stay but so far, he hasn't, because the governor is Rick Perry.

I realized I said motivation not notification, glad you know what I meant. Is that really the only recourse? Can he appeal to fed court to get it out of TX's hands.

Only if the governor issues a 30 day stay.  As I understand it, the governor can't commute the sentence unless the Board of Corrections recommends it.  In this case, the board unanimously on Monday that the execution should proceed.  So the best Perry can do is issue a stay of 30 days to file appeals to the feds.

The fact that his lawyer wasn't notified probably is lost on him.  It's not like Texas is known for giving a shit about due process.  The state's justice system is the most fucked up of any developed democracy. This is par for the course there.

[karinothing]

Well that is horribly depressing.

[ESF]

Here is more information.

www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/supreme-court-texas-execution-mentally-ill-scott-panetti

Update 12/1/2014: Texas courts have rejected all of Panetti's appeals, despite vigorous dissents by conservative Republican judges, including one who came out in favor of abolishing the death penalty altogether. Today, Panetti's lawyers asked the US Supreme court to stop his execution on the grounds that his execution would be unconstitutional because executing a severely mentally ill person violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They argue that executing Panetti would violate an emerging public consensus in which most Americans oppose executing people with major mental illness. Panetti's clemency petition is still pending before the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, and is supported by a bipartisan coalition that includes dozens of evangelical leaders as well as Texas politicians—including former US representative Ron Paul.

The rest of the article is fantastic and well worth a read.


ETA - that 12/1 update was written before the Board of Pardons and Parole (not Corrections as I mistakenly wrote in my previous post) unanimously voted to deny the clemency petition.  More info here.

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/texas-perry-under-pressure-scott-panetti-case

[miniroller]

C'mon Supreme Court!
This is appalling, & I'm disgusted that it's taking place in my country.

[penguingrrl]

Ugh, this is barbaric. I don't have a strong opinion on DP in general, but stories like this make it very hard for me to be okay with it.

[karinothing]

Well, I guess my hope lies in SCOTUS. I have a lot of friends/family in TX so I am urging them to call their representatives or the governors office. Not sure any will listen though.

I am glad a lot of groups are speaking out against this, even if the gov isn't listening.

[cattledogkisses]

Jesus. He should be in a facility for the criminally insane, not on death row.

[ESF]

Dec 3, 2014 11:36:11 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Well, I guess my hope lies in SCOTUS. I have a lot of friends/family in TX so I am urging them to call their representatives or the governors office. Not sure any will listen though.

I am glad a lot of groups are speaking out against this, even if the gov isn't listening.

Scotus said in October they could execute him.  Texas hired a known quack to evaluate him, and that guy said Panetti was competent.  The 5th Circuit and Scotus agreed that the competency hearing was fair.   This final appeal is a hail mary attempt at reframing the issue, but if SCOTUS blew him off once, they'll blow him off again.

John Roberts once represented a pro bono defendant, and the same quack that Texas hired also claimed that Roberts' client was competent. Roberts knows he's a quack, but he has already shown that he just does not give a shit.  

If SCOTUS comes around on this, I'll be shocked.  

Read the Mother Jones article I linked above later.  It's fantastic.

[andrealynn]

I heard this on the radio this morning and was completely horrified.

It is a pretty sad state of affairs when this person's only hope is that Rick Perry will do the right thing.

[lauralala]

It looks like an appeals court has issued a stay.

www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Appeals-court-issues-stay-in-execution-of-5932373.php

[karinothing]

Dec 3, 2014 12:50:01 GMT -5 lauralala said:

It looks like an appeals court has issued a stay.

www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Appeals-court-issues-stay-in-execution-of-5932373.php

Thank you God. I hope this gives his lawyers enough time to figure something out.