Scott Panetti Case Roundup: Slate, Dallas Morning News, and more

[Stefanie Faucher]

This email contains commentary from:

• Slate - The Massive Failures of Justice That Will Allow Texas To Put A Mentally Ill Man to Death

• Dallas Morning News - Abby Johnson: If Texas values life, it shouldn't execute mentally ill man

• Patheos Blog - If God Still Smites Places, Texas Is Begging To Be Messed With

News from:

• News Hub - Paranoid schizophrenic who defended himself in a cowboy costume will face execution next month

• News Hub - The shocking numbers behind the case of a mentally ill man on death row scheduled to be executed on Dec 3

• FirstToKnow - Will Texas Execute a Schizophrenic Who Defended Himself in a Purple Cowboy Outfit?

A press release from attorneys for Scott Panetti: http://texasdefender.org/wp-content/uploads/Press-Release-Clemency-Supplement-11-18.pdf

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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/11/texas_execution_of_scott_panetti_why_a_schizophrenic_man_will_be_put_to.html

Massive Failures of Justice

Why Texas is about to execute a profoundly mentally ill man.

By Boer Deng and Dahlia Lithwick

Just before he surrendered himself to the county police for killing his in-laws, Scott Panetti dressed himself in a business suit. His head was shaved, with patches of hair still clinging to the spots he had missed. Sgt. Ranahan Iron Horse—an auditory hallucination—had made him do it. Panetti later called Sarge to testify to that effect at his 1995 trial, at which he represented himself.

Panetti, whose schizophrenia has been documented for 30 years, cannot distinguish fact from delusion. On Dec. 3, Texas plans to execute him. He believes he is being put to death because the state of Texas, in cahoots with the devil, wants to prevent him from preaching the Gospel.

Opposition to executing the insane dates back centuries. As the English jurist Sir Edward Coke wrote in 1680: “When a mad man is executed,” it is “against Law and of extreme inhumanity … and can be no example to others.”

Or as Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote centuries later in Ford v. Wainwright:

[T]his Court is compelled to conclude that the Eighth Amendment prohibits a State from carrying out a sentence of death upon a prisoner who is insane. Whether its aim be to protect the condemned from fear and pain without comfort of understanding, or to protect the dignity of society itself from the barbarity of exacting mindless vengeance, the restriction finds enforcement in the Eighth Amendment.

At every turn, it seems that some system failed Panetti, whether it was the mental health system, the courts, the prison system, or the political branches. It is almost incomprehensible that Texas is about to go through with the execution, but the failures, feints, technicalities, and errors chronicled below have created a situation in which a man with three decades of profound mental illness will be sent to the death chamber.

The Mental Illness

1978-1992: Scott Panetti receives his first diagnosis of schizophrenia in 1978 at the age of 20. Between 1981 and 1992, he is hospitalized 14 times at six different institutions for showing symptoms of psychosis, characterized by tangential and circumstantial thinking, hallucinations, delusions, grandiosity, and paranoia. Extensive medical records chronicle these symptoms. In 1986 Panetti experiences a psychotic episode during which he tries to wash the devil from the walls of his house and buries furniture in the backyard, believing the devil is in it. He nails the curtains shut so that “the neighbors would not film him.” At no point is there any suggestion that he is malingering or faking symptoms.

September 1992: Sonja Alvarado, his estranged second wife, tries to have him committed after Panetti comes after her with a knife. She takes his guns to the local police, but they return them, saying they have no legal right to prevent Panetti from having them.

The Shooting

Sept. 8, 1992: Following a fight with Sonja Alvarado, Panetti shaves his head, dresses in military fatigues, and drives to the home of Amanda and Joe Alvarado, his estranged wife’s parents. He shoots them at close range with a rifle. He takes his wife and their infant daughter to a bunkhouse where he is living but eventually releases them unharmed. Panetti subsequently says that “Sarge” had controlled him at the time of the crime, that divine intervention meant that the victims did not suffer, and that demons had been laughing at him as he left the house.

Competency to Stand Trial

July 1994: A competency hearing to determine whether Panetti is fit to stand trial is scheduled. In Texas, such a competency hearing is held before a jury. This is unusual: In many other states, a judge determines competency, with input from psychiatric professionals. The jury is unable to come to a consensus, and the judge declares a mistral. At this and a subsequent competency hearing, he is medicated with large doses of antipsychotic drugs.

Sept. 9, 1994: A second competency hearing takes place in front of a different jury. Panetti’s lawyer testifies that in the previous two years, he had had no useful communication with Panetti because of his client’s delusional thinking. A psychiatrist for the defense concludes that Panetti is not competent to stand trial. A psychiatrist for the prosecution agrees with the previous diagnoses of schizophrenia and that Panetti’s delusional thinking could interfere with his ability to communicate with counsel. This doctor reports that Panetti does not know what year it is and cannot identify the president. Yet he concludes that Panetti is competent to stand trial, and the jury agrees.

Firing His Lawyers

April 1995: Panetti experiences what he calls an “April Fool’s Day revelation” that God had cured his schizophrenia, and he stops taking his antipsychotic medications. He becomes convinced that he cannot trust his lawyers, whom he believes are conspiring with the police and the courts, and eventually tries to fire them. The trial judge apparently held no hearing on Panetti’s competence to proceed to trial without counsel and allowed him to represent himself. Even if Panetti had the capacity to stand trial, it’s not at all clear he had the capacity to represent himself.

Panetti attempts to call more than 200 witnesses, including John F. Kennedy, the pope, Anne Bancroft, and Jesus Christ.

In the 1993 decision in Godinez v. Moran, the Supreme Court held that a defendant who has been found to be competent to stand trial is also competent to plead guilty and to waive counsel. The Supreme Court’s decision in Indiana v. Edwards in 2008 has since made courts exercise more scrutiny over granting mentally ill or otherwise hampered defendants permission to waive their rights to legal representation. But at the time, the 216th Texas Judicial District Court “decided to treat Scott Panetti as if he were anyone else,” says Paul Appelbaum, a forensic psychiatrist at Columbia University.

Sept. 12, 1995: Panetti’s trial begins, with the defendant representing himself. Court documents say his defense could be “described charitably as ‘bizarre,’ ” while others who were present call it a “farce,” a “joke,” a “circus,” and a “mockery.” Panetti conducts his defense dressed as a cowboy in a purple suit and a hat. He attempts to call more than 200 witnesses, including John F. Kennedy, the pope, Anne Bancroft, and Jesus Christ. (The last he later recanted: “Jesus Christ, he doesn’t need a subpoena. He’s right here with me, and we’ll get into that,” Panetti said in court.)

He interrogates one prospective jury member as to whether the person had any “Indian blood,” before launching into a tirade about an event he called “Wounded Elbow”—conflating the battle of Wounded Knee with something to do with the Ayatollah Khomeini. He cross-examines himself on the stand, addressing his alter ego, “Sarge.” He gets rid of documents prepared for him by backup counsel because he was certain the prison guards were colluding against him. He presents no mitigating evidence. The judge declines to accept crucial medical records because Panetti had drawn all over them. A psychiatrist who had assessed Panetti prior to trial and witnessed the proceedings says Panetti was “acting out a role of an attorney as a facet of the mental illness, not a rational decision to represent himself at trial.”

Sept. 21, 1995: After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury finds Panetti guilty of murder and recommends capital punishment. Some report being so afraid of him that they wanted to make sure he never walked free. (Life without parole was unavailable in Texas at the time.) The following day, the judge sentences him to death.

1999: Sonja Alvarado, the ex-wife whose parents Panetti killed, signs a petition calling for his life to be spared.

Appeals in Lower Courts

The trial judge determines in post-conviction proceedings less than two months after Panetti was sentenced to death that he was incompetent to waive counsel. In other words, he was deemed capable of acting as his own counsel at trial but not on appeal.

October 2003: The state trial court sets an execution date for Feb. 5, 2004. Panetti files a motion with the trial court for a stay of execution, and his lawyers file a motion claiming that he is incompetent to be executed under Ford v. Wainwright, the 1986 case providing that the Eighth Amendment prohibits states from carrying out the death penalty “upon a prisoner who is insane.” The trial judge denies the motion without a hearing. A debate follows about which courts have jurisdiction to entertain this claim. A federal court asks the state court to assess whether Panetti is competent enough to be executed.

2004: The state court appoints two mental health experts who declare Panetti to be competent to be executed even though they had spoken only briefly with him and deemed him too uncooperative to conduct a comprehensive evaluation. Panetti seeks to appoint his own experts and hold an evidentiary hearing, but the court never rules on that request. The judge accepts the testimony of the two experts, finding that Panetti had “failed to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he is incompetent to be executed.”

The federal district court later found the state court’s failure to hold an evidentiary hearing (as required under state law) problematic. The district court schedules its own evidentiary hearing, appointing counsel and authorizing funds so that Panetti can hire a team of psychiatric experts.

The federal habeas judge overseeing Panetti’s case allows Panetti to put on his own expert witnesses, who testify Panetti believes that the death penalty is a satanic plot, with the state “in league with the forces of evil” and trying to “prevent him from preaching the Gospel.” The judge finds that Panetti lacks a “rational understanding” of the reason for his execution but notes that the narrow standard that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was using at the time demands that the defendant have only some “factual awareness” of the reason for his execution. The judge finds Panetti competent for the death penalty.

2006: The 5th Circuit upholds the federal court’s ruling, agreeing that a prisoner is competent to be executed under Ford if he “knew that he was going to be executed and why he was going to be executed,” and noting that the “awareness” required under Ford “is not necessarily synonymous with ‘rational understanding.’ ”

The Supreme Court: Panetti v. Quarterman

June 28, 2007: The Supreme Court overturns Panetti’s death sentence after finding the court hadn’t adequately examined whether he was sane enough to be executed. The opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, found multiple errors at the state court level:

The state court refused to transcribe its proceedings, notwithstanding the multiple motions petitioner filed requesting this process. To the extent a more complete record may have put some of the court’s actions in a more favorable light, this only constitutes further evidence of the inadequacy of the proceedings. Based on the materials available to this Court, it appears the state court on repeated occasions conveyed information to petitioner’s counsel that turned out not to be true; provided at least one significant update to the State without providing the same notice to petitioner; and failed in general to keep petitioner informed as to the opportunity, if any, he would have to present his case. There is also a strong argument the court violated state law by failing to provide a competency hearing.

The court rules that “a prisoner’s awareness of the State’s rationale for an execution is not the same as a rational understanding of it,” and sends the case back to lower courts to determine whether Panetti can understand the connection between his crime and punishment. The Kennedy opinion declines “to attempt to set down a rule governing all competency determinations,” but clarifies that to be eligible for the death penalty, Panetti needs to both be aware he will be executed and have a “rational understanding” of the facts of his execution.

Aftermath of the Supreme Court

2008: Three psychiatrists and two fellow inmates, serving as witnesses for the defense, testify at a new hearing called by the district court. All conclude that Panetti is undeniably psychotic. The state of Texas counters with its own experts, who claim that Panetti is not irrational and is even faking his condition. They present secretly recorded conversations Panetti had with his parents in which he seemed lucid in speech.

It is extremely doubtful that someone could fake a mental illness for decades, says William Carpenter, an expert on schizophrenia and psychosis at the University of Maryland. Medical professionals are in agreement that psychosis, consistently diagnosed, is unlikely to be wrongly ascribed to a patient, even though symptoms vary and sufferers can display sense at times and nonsense at others.

The district court agrees with evidence from the defense that “it is not seriously disputable that Panetti suffers from paranoid delusions.” However, because the federal judge concluded that Panetti had “thought about the death penalty and its moral and political implications,” the district court rules that he is eligible for the death penalty.

August 2013: The 5th Circuit upholds the district court’s decision. It accepts his secretly recorded conversations and the fact that he seemed “generally responsive” as evidence of his overall fitness to be executed, plus the testimony of one psychiatrist with dubious credentials who administered no tests, and technical findings about adequate levels of funding for Panetti’s defense.

In fact, the 5th Circuit, which hears cases from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, has never found an inmate incompetent to be executed.

Oct. 6, 2014: The Supreme Court refuses to consider another appeal from Panetti.

Panetti has not had a competency hearing in nearly seven years.

Oct. 16, 2014: A state district judge signs a warrant setting the execution date for Dec. 3. Panetti’s attorneys do not learn this until two weeks later—when they read it in the newspaper. The office of District Attorney Bruce Curry did not notify them on Oct. 16, when the date was set, as is the pattern and practice of capital law in Texas. Panetti’s attorneys might have used that time to attempt to save his life. Texas had been scheduling executions in 2015. They pushed Panetti’s ahead so it can happen in 2014.

The past two weeks: Panetti’s attorneys and dozens of organizations and individuals from across the country have called on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry to stop the execution of this mentally ill man.

Boer Deng is a Slate editorial assistant. Follow her on Twitter. 

Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate. 

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http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20141118-abby-johnson-if-texas-values-life-it-has-no-business-executing-mentally-ill-man.ece

Abby Johnson: If Texas values life, it shouldn't execute mentally ill man

Scott Louis Panetti, who shot his in-laws in 1992, during an interview from behind thick glass at a prison in Livingston, Texas, on Nov. 16, 2006. “The devil has been trying to rub me out,” he told an interviewer.

By ABBY JOHNSON, November 18, 2014

Texas is scheduled to execute Scott Panetti on Dec. 3. There is no question about Panetti’s guilt — he murdered his wife’s parents in Fredericksburg in 1992 — but there is more to the story. Panetti also suffers from severe mental illness, and it would be a grave injustice for Texas to execute him.

I have dedicated my life to promoting a culture of life. A fundamental tenet of the pro-life ethic is that all life has value and we are called to protect it, especially in its most vulnerable forms. A culture of life recognizes the value of those who are vulnerable and prioritizes safeguarding them.

By setting an execution date for Panetti, Texas is going entirely contrary to what we expect in a society that truly values life. This proposed execution shows a troubling disregard toward the reality of mental illness and protecting those who suffer from it.

You do not have to dig deep into Panetti’s case before the extent of his mental illness becomes apparent. At Panetti’s trial, he chose to represent himself. As his life hung in the balance, he dressed up in a cowboy suit and tried to subpoena Jesus Christ, the pope and John F. Kennedy. His trial was a farce, and it is disturbing that such a flawed process was sufficient to sentence someone to death.

Panetti’s bizarre behavior did not suddenly start at his trial. His history of mental illness, lasting over 30 years, is well documented. Panetti was hospitalized more than a dozen times for psychotic behavior and diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia during the decade prior to the 1992 murders.

Leading mental health experts have said that, if the execution of Panetti goes forward, it would be “a miserable spectacle.” I could not agree more. Panetti does not even understand why he is being executed. He believes that Satan, using the state of Texas as his agent, is trying to execute him for preaching the Gospel while in prison.

The execution of Panetti would be more than an embarrassment to our state. It would undermine our commitment to protecting life, especially the most vulnerable, by extinguishing the life of someone clearly suffering from mental illness. Fortunately, there is still time for Texas to change course and avoid taking this disastrous step.

The just and humane course going forward is to commute Panetti’s death sentence to life in prison and ensure that he is not executed. Our shared commitment to valuing life demands nothing less.

Abby Johnson founded a ministry, And Then There Were None, that is dedicated to helping abortion clinic workers transition out of the industry. Reach her at ab...@abbyjohnson.org.

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/formerlyfundie/if-god-still-smites-places-texas-is-begging-to-be-messed-with/#ixzz3JRLQPhXB

If God Still Smites Places, Texas Is Begging To Be Messed With

By Benjamin Corey, November 18, 2014

They say “Don’t mess with Texas,” but if God still smites places, they sure are about to tempt him.

Now, truth be told, I don’t believe God smites places– I believe Jesus is God, and Jesus obviously doesn’t smite places, but I don’t think that means we should just go around asking for it.

Texas however, is asking for it.

While the United States likes to sit in judgement over places like Iran and China over human rights violations, we don’t have much room to talk– because we have the government of Texas. And, just like Iran and China, the government of Texas loves them a good ole’ fashioned execution. In fact, Governor Rick Perry holds the record for most executions by a modern governor… it’s just what the State of Texas does.

Usually, the rest of the country stands back quietly and lets them do their thing, but in light of an execution scheduled for December 3rd, folks on all sides– even conservative deal penalty supporters– are crying foul.

Of course, as Jesus person who has embraced Jesus’ invitation to reject the use of retributive violence (Matthew 5:38-48), I join in their voices in imploring the state of Texas to halt this pending execution immediately.

The man set to be executed is Scott Panetti, who is 56 years old. Now, Panetti did murder two people– his in-laws; no one is contesting that point. However, what makes this case especially repulsive (not that other executions are not) is the fact that Mr. Panetti is, and has been, severely mentally ill.

Shortly after honorably serving in the military, Panetti was diagnosed with schizophrenia which he’s now had for more than 30 years. His illness is well documented prior to the murders (which took place during a psychotic break), as Panetti had been granted disability by the Social Security Administration– and anyone who has ever dealt with Social Security would know that this process of proving one’s case is anything but a rubber stamp.

His murder trial was one that should go down in the history books, labeled Exhibit A in the case to demonstrate how broken America’s justice system is. Panetti defended himself at trial dressed as a cowboy– and the chief witnesses he tried to call in his defense? John F. Kennedy, the Pope, and Jesus himself. The entire trial was a farce– yet he was sentenced to die anyway.

Even though no one seems to disagree that Panetti is mentally ill, he’s scheduled to die anyway because the legal standards of competency are so thin– he only need to understand he is going to die, and have some understanding as to why it is happening. Even with that standard however, the US Supreme Court has previously ruled in 2007 that he did not have a rational understanding as to why he was being put to death– he believes it is a plan of Satan, big business, and the Bush family, to stop him from preaching the Gospel to other death row inmates. However, Texas pushed forward anyway and a lower court has ruled he is competent to be executed, claiming that he is exaggerating his level of impairment. With the Supreme Court refusing to hear another appeal, it seems that it is full steam ahead to execute him onDecember 3rd.

While we as Christians often disagree on issues, I’d like to remind us that if we are to truly call ourselves his “followers” (which by definition means we live and act the way he did) we must be the ones who are the quickest to show others mercy (Matthew 9:13). The advocacy to show mercy toward death row inmates– as we remember our savior who once himself unjustly sat on death row– is one of the chief ways we can point culture to Jesus. In this case, I’ve been pleased to watch Christians from both the left and the right join their voices in crying out for mercy from the State of Texas, and today I add my name to that list of voices.

Today we cry out– not just to the State of Texas– but to the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, that Scott Panetti, a man who is ill and sentenced to die, will be shown mercy.

I would encourage you to add your voice to ours, as we– the people of Jesus– become the people who are the embodiment of mercy.

No, I don’t believe God smites places, but I can’t imagine that Jesus– the one who expresses the exact image of God’s person (Heb 1:3)– is sitting back and nodding his head in approval.

…

If you’d like to read more in-depth about this case, you can see a complete list of reports and resources, here. Also, see 5 Reasons Christians Ought Oppose The Death Penalty.

In the meantime, I’d invite you to “re-humanize” this case by watching this short video from Scott’s parents:

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https://www.the-newshub.com/stories/a-paranoid-schizophrenic-who-defended-himself-in-a-cowboy-costume-will-face-execution-next-month

Paranoid schizophrenic who defended himself in a cowboy costume will face execution next month

Scott Panetti will be put to death on the 3rd of December unless we can convince Governor Rick Perry that this is a cruel injustice

By Jose Cornejo, November 18, 2014

Scott Panetti is a severely mentally ill man on death row in Texas. He is a paranoid schizophrenic who wore a TV-Western cowboy costume when on trial for his life, insisted on defending himself without counsel, attempted to subpoena the Pope, John F. Kennedy, and Jesus Christ; and raised an insanity defense. At one point, he cross-examined his own alter-ego, Sarge, answering his own questions on-stand, in a different voice.

Mr. Panetti’s pro se performance was an abomination, and his trial was a mockery of the criminal justice system. But if Texas has its way, Mr. Panetti will be executed on December 3, 2014.

Believing that the execution of Scott Panetti would cross a moral line, a diverse group of unlikely allies from across the political spectrum, including mental health professionals and organizations, faith leaders, conservatives, legal experts, and former prosecutors are banding together to urge Governor Rick Perry to stop Panetti’s execution.

You can add your name to the effort to stop Mr. Panetti’s execution here.

As this powerful documentary shows, Panetti first showed signs of mental illness over 14 years before the offense for which he was sentenced to death. Doctors repeatedly diagnosed him with chronic schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and his condition continued to deteriorate.

In 1986, he developed the delusion that he was engaged in spiritual warfare with Satan. As he grew obsessed with the idea the devil was in the house, he began trying to exorcise it, at one point burying his furniture in his backyard because he believed it was possessed. Two years before his crime, he was involuntary committed for homicidal behavior and was found to be suffering from delusions and psychotic religiosity. But the mental health system failed him, and, in the grips of his severe illness, he committed a terrible crime against his family members.

Today, Panetti suffers from a fixed delusion that Satan is working through the state of Texas to kill him in order to stop him from preaching Christ’s word. He has no rational understanding of the actual relationship between his crime and the punishment he now faces.

Our society and the courts have reached a consensus that executing the mentally ill serves no purpose if prisoner has no rational understanding of the reason for his punishment. Panetti unquestionably falls into this category, yet the Courts have refused to intervene. His execution would be a miserable spectacle and a moral outrage.

Join the public outcry against the execution of the severely mentally ill. Sign and share the Change.org petition demanding Governor Rick Perry stop Panetti’s execution.

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https://www.the-newshub.com/stories/the-shocking-numbers-behind-the-case-of-the-mentally-ill-man-on-death-row

The shocking numbers behind the case of a mentally ill man on death row scheduled to be executed on Dec 3

Scott Panetti should be given psychological treatment - not a death sentence

November 18, 2014

Visit here to learn more and add your name to the growing chorus of support for clemency for Scott Panetti.

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http://firsttoknow.com/will-texas-execute-schizophrenic-defended-purple-cowboy-outfit/

Will Texas Execute a Schizophrenic Who Defended Himself in a Purple Cowboy Outfit?

By Jeffrey Rindskopf, November 18, 2014

In 1992, Scott Panetti gave his head a good, but uneven shave, and murdered his in-laws. He then held his wife and daughter hostage at gunpoint.

Now, he’s on death row, awaiting his execution on December 3, but his fate isn’t yet set in stone. His case has attracted a small but dedicated group of supporters petitioning Texas Governor Rick Perry to grant clemency to Panetti, a veteran and Wisconsin native. Among those supporting the effort are the American Bar Association, former prosecutors and DOJ officials, former judges, evangelical leaders, and Panetti’s family.

And why? Because Panetti is insane, and not just a little bit either. This is a man who was allowed to defend himself in court, and showed up wearing a purple cowboy suit, summoning more than 200 witnesses to the stand, including John F. Kennedy, the Pope, and Jesus Christ.

Panetti was discharged from the Navy in 1978 and subsequently diagnosed with paranoia and delusions. He was hospitalized 13 times in the next 13 years for issues relating to mental illness. He began receiving federal benefits for his schizophrenia in the 1980s.

Many of Panetti’s delusions pertain to the devil. In one case, he buried his family’s furniture in their backyard in an attempt to ward off the devil. The court documents he kept during his disastrous trial are filled with handwritten ramblings about Jesus Christ and sketches of crosses. To this day, he believes his execution was orchestrated by Satan acting through the state of Texas, trying to end his preaching of the gospel of Christ.

In 2006, the New York Times profiled Panetti, who told the reporter he had recently been stabbed in the eye by Satan. Luckily, he said, John F. Kennedy healed him. The article also quotes his description of the murders, perpetrated by his alter ego Sarge Ironhorse:

Sarge is gone. No more Sarge. Sonja and Birdie. Birdie and Sonja. Joe, Amanda lying kitchen, here, there blood. No, leave. Scott, remember exactly what Sarge did. Shot the lock. Walked in the kitchen. Sonja, where’s Birdie? Sonja here. Joe, bayonet, door, Amanda. Boom, boom, blood, blood. Demons. Ha, ha, ha, ha, oh, lord, oh, you.

Panetti’s case has already been subject to some controversy, as the Supreme Court reversed the decision made by the Fifth Circuit Court in 2007, declaring their analysis of his competency flawed. They had found it to be enough that Panetti understood that he had committed murder and that the state was executing him because of the murders — although he believed the true reason was an allegiance to Satan.

Even after the district court reexamined his case on the order of the Supreme Court, Panetti was found to be sufficiently competent in 2008. The Fifth Circuit Court affirmed the finding last year.

As his execution date draws close, more people are joining the fight to have Panetti pardoned and placed in an insane asylum. His sister started a Change.org petition for him.

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For Immediate Release: November 18, 2014
Contact: Laura Burstein,
Laura.B...@Squirepb.com
For More Information: www.texasdefender.org/scott-panetti

Worldwide Support Grows for Clemency for Scott Panetti, A Paranoid Schizophrenic Scheduled for Execution on December 3rd

Execution That Would “Cross a Moral Line” Opposed by Mental Health Organizations, Texas and National Legislators, Evangelical Christians, the European Union and Thousands More in Supplement to Clemency Petition Filed Today

(Austin, Texas, November 18, 2014) Worldwide support for Scott Panetti reached a groundswell today 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.

Mr. Panetti, a man who has suffered from schizophrenia for over thirty years, is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on December 3, 2014, unless the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends commutation to life in prison and Governor Rick Perry grants it, or a court stays the execution that attorneys and supporters have said would “cross a moral line.”

“We believe that executing a person as severely and persistently ill as Scott Panetti would only compound the original tragedy, represent a profound injustice, and serve no useful retributive or preventive purpose,” states the letter from NAMI and NAMI Texas. “After many years of review and debate about this case, we urge you exercise your authority to commute the death penalty to life in prison in this highly tragic case.”

The letter from NAMI and NAMI Texas can be accessed here:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQOHE1YXNIWE1kbHd3ZTZzdjZTZTRiNWFCd1U0/view?usp=sharing

Letters from the diverse and unlikely array of supporters were submitted as part of a supplement to the clemency petition filed today with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Perry. The amended petition builds on the already widespread and extensive support for clemency for Mr. Panetti  by the American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health America and Disability Rights Texas and 24 other mental health experts; 33 former prosecutors and U.S. Attorneys General, 55 Evangelical leaders from Texas and nationally and 7 retired and activeBishops from the United Methodist Church and other faith leaders; Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation and the American Bar Association, among others, who had submitted their letters as part of the initial clemency petition filed on November 12, 2014.

The supplement to the clemency petition can be accessed here:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQbjZHWkh5dHp1MVE/view?usp=sharing

Texas legislators are particularly concerned about the fact that Mr. Panetti has not had a competency hearing in nearly seven years. He has a fixed delusion that his execution is being orchestrated by Satan, working through the State of Texas, to put an end to his preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“As members of the Texas Legislature, we are writing to express our grave concern that Scott Panetti is scheduled for execution on December 3, 2014, without any meaningful evaluation of his current mental condition,” the letter signed by eight Texas legislators reads. “Texas has a strong interest in a fair and accurate criminal justice system, and its administration of capital punishment must comport with due process of law.”

The letter from Texas legislators can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQcmNuR3MtMkh0THlVZEc3UnhhbzJoOXpIVEZv/view?usp=sharing

On November 14, 2014, Mr. Panetti’s attorneys filed a new Motion in the 216^thDistrict Court in Kerrville, Texas, which seeks to stay or modify Mr. Panetti's scheduled execution date in order to assess Mr. Panetti's competency to be executed.

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.”

Link to Motion here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LFfr8Iqz_7NTFwUWJSYXNablZDcnBvdzFTQUhGTWxfczJR/view?usp=sharing

The first time Mr. Panetti showed signs of being afflicted with a psychotic disorder was in 1978, over 14 years before he shaved his head and killed his in-laws, Amanda and Joseph Alvarado.  During his multiple hospitalizations, doctors diagnosed him with chronic schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

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. 

Detailed information about Mr. Panetti’s history of severe mental illness can be found in 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:http://texasdefender.org/wp-content/uploads/Panetti-Mental-Illness-Timeline.htm 

As the letter from the EU notes, “The European Union strongly believes that the execution of persons suffering from a mental disorder is contrary to widely accepted human rights norms and is in contradiction to the minimum standards of human rights set forth in several international human rights instruments, as well as being prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.”

The letter from the European Union can be accessed here:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQMTJ6NTRsMExTS1FieUtnSXFvZ0g0VkhJdXVB/view?usp=sharing

As former Texas Governor Mark White said in his new statement, “I know very well that in so many instances, there are incredibly close and difficult calls hat have to be made to either allow or prohibit the death penalty from being carried out. But Scott Panetti’s plea for clemency is no such case. He is a severely mentally ill man. His trial was a sham. And executing Panetti would say far more about us than it would about the man we are attempting to kill.”

Governor White’s letter can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQWlp5MDNEaktKM3E5SFhEWExvNTZNa3VwZXVR/view?usp=sharing

Former Congressman Ron Paul agrees: “The circumstances of this case present a situation where execution does not serve the state of Texas.”

Rep. Paul’s letter can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQRWtuVTBhRzdRQXhFVFA5d1Brc0xHak9lTUww/view?usp=sharing

A complete listing of the clemency letters and more information about Mr. Panetti’s case, including legal documents, video footage, and more, can be accessed here:www.texasdefender.org/scott-panetti

Additionally, an online petition has 7,000 signatures in support of clemency from citizens of Texas, the U.S. and the world. 

The Change.org petition can be accessed here: https://www.change.org/p/gov-rick-perry-spare-my-brother-s-life-a-severely-mentally-ill-man-on-death-row

To speak with attorneys for Mr. Panetti, Kathryn Kase of the Texas Defender Service and Greg Wiercioch of the Texas Defender Service and the University of Wisconsin Law School, or signatories to the letters supporting clemency, please contact: Laura Burstein, Laura.B...@Squirepb.com, 202-626-6868 (o);202-669-3411 (c).

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Stefanie Faucher

Communications Director

8th Amendment Project

sfau...@8thamendment.org 

Mobile 510.393.4549

8thamendment.org