Scott Panetti Case Roundup: Breaking News from Associated Press, Statement from Attorneys
Stefanie Faucher
Statement from Kathryn Kase, Attorney For Scott Panetti, In Response to Denial of Stay of Execution
Stay denied death row inmate said to be delusional
Associated Press
Posted: Nov 19, 2014 5:09 PM EST
FREDERICKSBURG, Texas (AP) - A Texas judge has refused for a second time to delay the next month's scheduled execution of a convicted murderer whose attorneys say is severely delusional and ineligible for the death penalty.
State District Judge N. Keith Williams in Gillespie County refused Wednesday a renewed request by attorneys for convicted killer Scott Panetti that Panetti's Dec. 3 execution date be reset or withdrawn. Williams rejected a similar appeal last week.
The 56-year-old Hayward, Wisconsin, man faces lethal injection for the fatal shootings of his in-laws 22 years ago at their home in Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country.
Panetti's lawyers contend his long-diagnosed mental illness appears to have worsened since his last evaluation seven years ago and more time is needed to determine if he's competent now for execution.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Breaking: This afternoon, Judge Keith Williams of the 216th District Court in Kerrville, Texas, denied a stay of execution for Scott Panetti, a man who has suffered from schizophrenia for over thirty years. On November 14, 2014, attorneys for Mr. Panetti filed a motion to stay or modify Mr. Panetti's scheduled December 3rd execution date in order to assess Mr. Panetti's competency to be executed.
Mr. Panetti has not had a competency hearing in nearly seven years.
Below is a statement from Kathryn Kase, attorney for Mr. Panetti, in response to today’s denial followed by background about the case.
Statement from Kathryn Kase, Attorney For Scott Panetti, In Response to Denial of Stay of Execution
"Mr. Panetti, who has been a paranoid schizophrenic for over thirty years, has deteriorated in the last several years. If there is to be any legitimacy to the capital punishment process in this troubling case, it is essential to conduct a hearing on whether or not Mr. Panetti is competent to be executed prior to carrying out his execution. As an obviously severely mentally ill man with schizophrenia, Mr. Panetti should never have been allowed to represent himself in his death penalty case. Mr. Panetti should not have been allowed to reject a plea deal that would have saved his life. Now, Mr. Panetti must not be executed without a competency hearing. This is the last chance to prevent an injustice from turning into an immoral tragedy."
Kathryn Kase, attorney for Scott Panetti and Executive Director of Texas Defender Service
November 19, 2014
Judge Williams’ Order can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQZ1lablY2LW5YM1U5NDVTeWdJMExNQ0lUdGFB/view?usp=sharing
CASE BACKGROUND
On November 14, 2014, attorneys for Scott Panetti, a man who has suffered from schizophrenia for over thirty years, and whose case has elicited widespread support for a stay of execution, filed a new Motion in the 216th District Court in Kerrville, Texas, which seeks to stay or modify Mr. Panetti's scheduled December 3rd execution date in order to assess Mr. Panetti's competency to be executed. Mr. Panetti has not had a competency hearing in nearly seven years.
The Motion includes new information from incomplete records received by Mr. Panetti’s counsel over the last week from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and a recent visit by counsel with Mr. Panetti.
The newly released TDCJ records reveal that “mental health treatment professionals and correctional officers have noted alarming and aberrational changes in Mr. Panetti’s behavior over the last two years.” (p. 4) The Motion provides details on how Mr. Panetti believes he is “hearing voices” and has a “listening device implanted in his tooth.” He said he was being executed “because TDCJ wants him to ‘shut up’ about the corruption and to stop him from preaching the Gospel.” (pp. 13-16)
Based on this new information, the Motion states “counsel can now make a colorable showing that Mr. Panetti is presently incompetent to be executed under Ford v. Wainwright (1986) and Panetti v. Quarterman (2007)…[that] warrant[s] a fuller exploration by the Court.” (p. 2)
The Motion, denied in the state district court today, can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LFfr8Iqz_7NTFwUWJSYXNablZDcnBvdzFTQUhGTWxfczJR/view?usp=sharing
WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR CLEMENCY
On November 12, 2014, Mr. Panetti's attorneys filed a clemency petition with Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles along with letters supporting clemency from the leading Texas and national mental health organizations and professionals such as the American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health America and Disability Rights Texas; criminal justice and legal professionals including former Texas Governor Mark White, state Attorneys General and former judges and prosecutors; 55 Evangelical leaders from Texas and nationally and 7 retired and active Bishops from the United Methodist Church and other faith leaders; Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation and the American Bar Association, among others.
On November 18, 2014, worldwide support for Scott Panetti reached a groundswell with new calls for clemency from prominent individuals and organizations from across Texas and the world, including the nation’s largest grassroots advocacy organization on mental illness, National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI); NAMI’s Texas affiliate; ten legislators from Texas; former U.S. Representative Ron Paul; several more Evangelical Christians; and the European Union, which represents twenty-eight nations.
The clemency petition can be accessed through Texas Defender Service’s web page on the case: http://texasdefender.org/scott-panetti/
Three-Decade History of Severe Psychosis and Delusions
Mr. Panetti has suffered from extreme mental illness for over 30 years. He was hospitalized a dozen times for psychosis and delusions in the six years leading up to the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to death.
The first time Mr. Panetti showed signs of being afflicted with a psychotic disorder was in 1978, over 14 years before the crime. During his multiple hospitalizations, doctors diagnosed him with chronic schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and proscribed antipsychotic medication.
In 1986, Mr. Panetti first succumbed to the delusion that he was engaged in spiritual warfare with Satan. In an affidavit his first wife signed to have him involuntarily committed, she testified that he was obsessed with the idea that the devil was in the house. He engaged in a series of bizarre behaviors to exorcize his home, including burying his furniture in the backyard because he thought the devil was in the furniture.
Two years before the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to death, Mr. Panetti was involuntarily committed for homicidal behavior and was found to be suffering from delusions and psychotic religiosity.
The crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to death also had the hallmarks of a severely disturbed mind. While off his antipsychotic medication, Mr. Panetti shaved his head and dressed in camouflage fatigues before going to his in-laws’ home and committing the offense for which he was convicted and sentenced to death.
Detailed information about Mr. Panetti’s medical history can be found in this mental illness timeline starting in 1978 that shows how Mr. Panetti’s mental health degenerated over the years, including how in 1986, the Social Security Administration made a determination that Mr. Panetti was so disabled from schizophrenia that he was entitled to government benefits:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LFfr8Iqz_7c3kzWW5nRFBib1U/view?usp=sharing
Mr. Panetti’s Trial: ‘A Miserable Spectacle’
Despite being a paranoid schizophrenic, Mr. Panetti represented himself at his capital murder trial in 1995. Wearing a cowboy costume with a purple bandana and attempting to call over 200 people to the witness stand, including the Pope, John F. Kennedy, Jesus Christ and his own alter ego, Mr. Panetti was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Mr. Panetti’s statements in court, at both the guilt and sentencing phase, were bizarre and incomprehensible. He took the witnesses stand and testified about his own life in excessive and irrelevant detail.
Mr. Panetti announced that he would assume the personality of “Sarge” and recounted the gruesome details of the crime in the third person. He gestured as if pointing a rifle to the jury box (visibly upsetting the jurors) and matter- of-factly imitated the sound of shots being fired.
Fixed Delusion that Texas is Trying to Kill Him for Preaching the Gospel
In 2004, Texas tried to execute Mr. Panetti, but a federal judge court stayed the execution and the United States Supreme Court ultimately found the Fifth Circuit’s standard for determining competency to be executed unconstitutional in Panetti v. Quarterman, 551 U.S. 930 (2007). Notwithstanding that decision, Texas continued to contest Mr. Panetti’s competence to be executed. In 2013, the Fifth Circuit again found him competent to be executed – despite the District Court’s findings that he has a severe mental illness and suffers from paranoid delusions.
If his execution date is not withdrawn, he will go to the execution chamber convinced that he is being put to death for preaching the Gospels, not for the murder of his wife’s parents, and the retributive goal of capital punishment will not be served.
To access the letters supporting clemency, additional legal documents and other case resources, including a video, please go to: texasdefender.org/scott-panetti.
To speak with Mr. Panetti’s attorneys, Kathryn Kase of Texas Defender Service and Greg Wiercioch of Texas Defender Service and University of Wisconsin Law School, or if you would like to speak with mental health and other experts, please contact Laura Burstein at Laura.B...@Squirepb.com or 202-626-6868 (o) or 202-669-3411 (c).
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