Mental Health Advocates Call for Execution Reprieve and Evaluation
For Immediate Release, Austin, TX
Contact: Steve Hall, 512.627.3011, shall@standdown.org
Mental Health Advocates Call for Execution Reprieve and Evaluation
Mental health advocates are calling upon Governor Rick Perry to issue a reprieve in the scheduled execution of a severely mentally ill man who was allowed to represent himself at his capital murder trial. Advocates want time to allow for a competency screening. Scott Panetti is scheduled to be executed Thursday, February 5
"This case demonstrates that our state law on execution competency is simply not working," said Genevieve Hearon, Director of Capacity FOR JUSTICE. "As a practical matter, the attorney has to find an unpaid evaluator who can examine the inmate, in order to seek a court-appointed evaluator to determine execution competency."
"When an attorney observes behaviors that would lead him or her to believe a client is incompetent to be executed, there should be an evaluation. Executing an individual who does not meet the legal standard of understanding that 'he or she is to be executed, that the execution is imminent and the reason he or she is being executed' neither deters criminal actions, nor supports retribution. It simply makes a mockery of justice," Hearon said.
Capacity FOR JUSTICE is an Austin based resource group that works to see that Texas courts and attorneys use reliable forensic evaluations in the criminal justice system.
" We do not deny the serious and violent nature of the offense for which Scott Panetti was convicted, and extend our deepest sympathy to the family of the victims," Lynn Lasky said. "This is a tragic case with too many victims which may have been avoided had adequate mental health care been provided. Mr. Panetti has a well-documented history of mental illness and that should have been taken into account during all phases of his death penalty case."
Lasky is the President and CEO of the Mental Health Association in Texas which is the oldest citizens' mental health education and advocacy organization in the state.
"It is an absolute outrage that the criminal justice system has completely broken down in this case," said Andrea Keilen, an attorney with Texas Defender Service. "This individual was truly incompetent to stand trial, and his behavior at the trial tells you he was in no position to act as his own attorney. Unfortunately, at every step, the checks and balances of the system have failed." TDS is a private, non-profit law firm that works to improve the quality of representation to indigent Texans charged with a capital crime or under sentence of death
Scott Panetti was convicted of the 1992 murder of his former parents-in-law. He had been diagnosed with mental illness more than a decade before the murders and had been hospitalized for mental illness 14 times in six different facilities prior to the murders. Over the objection of the defense and prosecution, Panetti was allowed to represent himself at his 1995 trial.
At the capital murder trial, Panetti wore a cowboy costume in the courtroom. He had attempted to subpoena Jesus Christ, JFK, and others to appear at his trial. Scott Monroe, a Kerrville attorney appointed to be Panetti's stand-by counsel has called the trial a "judicial farce," and said, "It should have never been allowed to happen, or, at least, stopped."
The Board of Pardons and Paroles has rejected a request for clemency.
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