Scott Panetti Case Roundup - Charisma News - Texas Evangelicals Warn Gov. Rick Perry Not to 'Cross Moral Line' | News Release: Attorneys Ask Court to Stay Execution for First Competency Hearing in Nearly Seven Years
Steve Hall
This e-mail contains news & commentary from:
Courthouse News Service - Texas Prepares to Kill Schizophrenic Inmate
HuffPost - Execution Of Scott Panetti, Inmate With Schizophrenia
HuffPost - Stubbs: Texas Wants to Kill This Mentally Ill Man
Charisma News - Texas Evangelicals Warn Gov. Rick Perry Not to 'Cross Moral Line'
Christian Post - Texas Executing Severely Mentally Ill Man Would 'Cross Moral Line'
News Release
Attorneys for Scott Panetti Ask Court to Stay Execution for First Competency Hearing in Nearly Seven Years
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http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/11/13/texas-prepares-to-kill-schizophrenic-inmate.htm
Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 7:07 AM PT | Courthouse News Service
Texas Prepares to Kill Schizophrenic Inmate
By Erik de la Garza
AUSTIN (CN) - Attorneys for a schizophrenic Death Row inmate on Wednesday asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry to stop the Dec. 3 execution of a man who represented himself at trial wearing a TV-Western cowboy costume.
Scott Panetti was 34 when he shaved his head and shot his in-laws to death in their Fredericksburg, Texas home in 1992. After the killings, he kidnapped his wife and daughter at gunpoint, holding them hostage in a cabin before releasing them.
Panetti was arrested that same day but told police "that it was his alter ego, 'Sarge' who did the killing," according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice summary of the case.
Attorneys say the murders were a result of a "psychotic break" produced by the mental illness they say Panetti has been battling since 1978.
He was convicted of capital murder in 1995 but not before attempting to call more than 200 witnesses, including John F. Kennedy, the Pope, and Jesus Christ, in what his attorneys called "a bizarre circus that contravened justice."
In court documents, one of Panetti's lawyers, Greg Wiercioch, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said Panetti's schizophrenia led him to reject a plea offer of a life sentence and to insist on representing himself at trial.
"The case of Scott Louis Panetti is a judicial disaster that has attracted national and international outrage - and for good reason," Wiercioch said. "Evidence of his incompetency runs like a fissure through every proceeding in his case - from arraignment to execution."
Wiercioch said the execution "would cross a moral line."
On Wednesday, dozens of mental health professionals, legal scholars and religious leaders joined the effort to persuade Texas officials to spare Panetti, 56, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection.
In a letter, 30 people, including former Texas Gov. Mark White, asked Perry and the parole board to commute Panetti's death sentence to life in prison.
"We come together from across the partisan and ideological divide and are united in our belief that, irrespective of whether we support or oppose the death penalty, this is not an appropriate case for execution," the letter said.
A Kerr County judge on Nov. 6 denied Panetti's request for withdrawal or modification of the execution date. Attorneys hoped to contest his competency for execution.
Panetti hasn't been evaluated in 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," his attorneys say in their petition.
A federal judge stayed his Feb. 5, 2004 execution date to evaluate whether he had the competence to be executed.
Despite finding that Panetti was under the influence of severe mental illness at the time of the crimes, which continues to affect him to this day, the court concluded he was competent for execution.
"The execution of Scott Panetti would be a cruel injustice that would serve no constructive purpose whatsoever," states a letter signed by more than 50 Evangelical Christian leaders, including 20 from Texas. "When we inflict the harshest punishment on the severely mentally ill, whose culpability is greatly diminished by their debilitating conditions, we fail to respect their innate dignity as human beings."
Panetti is the last inmate scheduled for execution this year in the busiest death-penalty state in the nation. Texas has executed 10 inmates in 2014 so far. There are nine executions already scheduled for 2015.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/13/scott-panetti-execution_n_6152428.html
11/13/2014 - 1:59 pm EST
Execution Of Scott Panetti, Inmate With Schizophrenia, 'Would Cross A Moral Line': Lawyer
By Andres Jauregui | The Huffington Post
Supporters of a mentally ill Texas man on death row are petitioning state officials to commute his sentence to life in prison.
Scott Panetti, 56, rejected a plea deal in the 1992 double-murder of his in-laws, and was allowed to represent himself at trial, despite the state's knowledge of his schizophrenia, his lawyers said.
Panetti is scheduled to die by lethal injection Dec. 3.
Greg Wiercioch, one of Panetti's lawyers, said the execution "would cross a moral line," Courthouse News reported.
Wiercioch and his other lawyers filed a clemency petition Nov. 12 asking officials to stop the execution. The letter was signed by former Texas Gov. Mark White, the American Bar Association, and a host of mental health professionals and religious leaders.
"We come together from across the partisan and ideological divide and are united in our belief that, irrespective of whether we support or oppose the death penalty, this is not an appropriate case for execution," said the letter, which was addressed to Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the state board of pardons and parole.
Panetti, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1978, claimed that his alter ego, "Sarge," killed his wife's parents, then kidnapped his spouse and daughter at gunpoint and held them hostage in a cabin. They were later released unharmed.
Panetti's lawyers said that the violent spree was triggered by a "psychotic break," which also led the man to reject a plea deal for life in prison and represent himself at trial.
During the trial, he donned a purple cowboy costume and called witnesses such as the John F. Kennedy, the Pope, and Jesus Christ. In 1995, Panetti was convicted of capital murder in the shooting deaths of his in-laws.
Panetti's case went before the Supreme Court in 2007. In a 5-4 ruling, the court found Panetti had insufficient understanding of why he was being put to death, and ordered a re-evaluation. But after his case went to court again, the state courts decided that Panetti was exaggerating his illness and reinstated the death penalty.
His lawyers said Panetti maintains the delusion that Satan is orchestrating his execution by way of the state of Texas, in order to prevent him from preaching the gospel to other inmates on death row.
"I thought to myself, 'My God. How in the world can our legal system allow an insane man to defend himself? How can this be just?'" F.E. Seale, a psychiatrist who examined Panetti several times, said in court, according to the Journal Sentinel. "I not only thought that Scott was incompetent but that it was not moral to have him stand trial."
Texas has executed 10 inmates in 2014, and has another nine scheduled for next year.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cassy-stubbs/scott-panetti-execution_b_6154618.html
11/13/2014 - 5:59 pm EST | Huffington Post
Texas Wants to Kill This Mentally Ill Man
By Cassy Stubbs | Senior staff attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project
Wearing a cowboy costume and a purple bandana, Scott Panetti defended himself at his capital trial in Texas without counsel, where he tried to call the Pope, J.F.K, and Jesus Christ to the witness stand. In Tennessee, Richard Taylor represented himself in his capital trial wearing sunglasses to keep out the police voices and sat completely silent through his trial. Guy LeGrande served as his own lawyer at his capital trial in North Carolina, wearing aSuperman shirt and telling the jury to kiss his "natural black ass" in closing argument.
All three were sentenced to death.
Each of these cases exemplifies a broken system. All three defendants suffer from schizophrenia, one of the most serious and debilitating mental illnesses known to humanity, and are delusional and out of touch with reality. Symptoms of schizophrenia, including paranoia and grandiosity, make it all too common for mentally ill defendants to fire their lawyers and try to represent themselves at trial. None of these three men should have been allowed to defend himself, and none should have faced the death penalty. Capital punishment for individuals with serious mental illness serves no valid purpose.
For my client Richard Taylor, in Tennessee, and Guy LeGrande, in North Carolina, the courts ultimately intervened. On appeal, the Tennessee court threw out Mr. Taylor's death sentence, and he was resentenced to a life. The North Carolina court found that Mr. LeGrande was too delusional to be executed in a competency hearing that was held after his execution date was scheduled.
Scott Panetti has not been as lucky.
Mr. Panetti is scheduled to be executed on December 3, 2014, despite the overwhelming evidence that he is seriously mentally ill and cannot understand the reasons for his execution. Mr. Panetti believes that Satan is working through the State of Texas to execute him for preaching the word of Jesus Christ. He has no rational understanding of the real relationship between his crime and the ultimate punishment awaiting him.
Mr. Panetti's history of mental illness is well documented and began fourteen years before the capital offense. He buried furniture in his backyard, believing it was possessed by the devil. He was hospitalized over a dozen times, and was involuntarily committed while suffering from delusions two years before his crime. Despite the extensive documentation of his long standing mental illness, the Texas courts nonetheless sided with the single witness to deny Mr. Panetti's mental illness, an expert witness with slim credentials, hired from Florida, whose testimony revealed his lack of familiarity with Mr. Panetti's mental health history.
Most recently, the Texas courts failed to give him even a current competency hearing. The last time the courts assessed Mr. Panetti's understanding of reality was over seven years ago. Nonetheless, Texas has eagerly plowed ahead with its December execution date.
The courts' failure is even more vexing because Mr. Panetti actually won his case in the United States Supreme Court -- earning a legal standard that should have guaranteed his safety from execution. Indeed, the Panetti standard was what the North Carolina court used to determine that Guy LeGrande was too mentally ill to be executed. It is a cruel twist that Mr. Panetti, whose case legal scholars and practitioners around the country see as the definition of whom is too mentally ill to be executed, nonetheless is scheduled to be executed.
The execution of Mr. Panetti accomplishes no reasonable goal. Executing someone who does not understand the reason for his punishment violates not only the Constitution, but basic decency.
Stand against this outrage by demanding that Governor Rick Perry stop Mr. Panetti's execution by commuting his death sentence to life in prison, here.
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http://www.charismanews.com/us/46147-texas-evangelicals-warn-gov-rick-perry-not-to-cross-moral-line
11/13/2014 - 3:00 pm | Charisma News - Breaking News. Spiritual Perspective
Texas Evangelicals Warn Gov. Rick Perry Not to 'Cross Moral Line'
By MARK ANDREWS
Dozens of evangelical Christian leaders from Texas and across the country have petitioned Texas Gov. Rick Perry to commute the death sentence of a man they say is too severely mentally ill to understand why he is being put to death.
Scott Panetti is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3. But his advocates say he thinks he faces the death sentence for preaching the gospel—not for the murders of his wife's parents in 1992.
"As Christians, we are called to protect the most vulnerable, and we count Mr. Panetti—a man who has suffered from severe mental illness for over 30 years—to be among them," the evangelical leaders wrote in a letter to the governor that was signed by more than 50 people. "If ever there was a clear case of an individual suffering from mental illness, this is it. Mr. Panetti is a paranoid schizophrenic, which was apparent at his trial, where he represented himself with his life on the line."
At his trial, Panetti wore a cowboy outfit trimmed with purple and insisted on representing himself, which the judge allowed. He tried to call more than 200 witnesses, including the late John F. Kennedy, the pope and Jesus Christ.
"The fact that his trial was carried out in such a fashion is a mockery of the criminal justice system," the pastors and other Christian leaders wrote.
Joining the evangelical leaders in their request are the American Bar Association, the American Psychiatric Association "and a whole bunch of legal experts and lawyers," according to a report on houstonpress.com. They are asking either that Perry grant a stay of execution so Panetti can be given a more thorough psychiatric evaluation or for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute his sentence to life in prison.
"Mr. Panetti's severe mental illness is well-documented and began long before his trial," the Christian leaders wrote. "In the decade before the offense, he had been hospitalized 12 times due to psychotic behavior and also diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. In 1986—six years before the crime—the Social Security Administration declared Mr. Panetti to be 'disabled' as a result of his mental illness and granted him monthly benefits."
The letter adds, "The execution of Scott Panetti would be a cruel injustice that would serve no constructive purpose whatsoever. When we inflict the harshest punishment on the severely mentally ill, whose culpability is greatly diminished by their debilitating conditions, we fail to respect their innate dignity as human beings."
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November 13, 2014 - 10:31 am
Texas Executing Severely Mentally Ill Man Would 'Cross Moral Line', Warn 50 Evangelical Leaders
BY STOYAN ZAIMOV | Christian Post Reporter
Over 50 Evangelical leaders have signed a joint letter warning Texas Governor Rick Perry that the planned execution of severely mentally ill man Scott Panetti, who has been convicted of murder and has said he believes he is battling Satan, would "cross a moral line."
"As Christians, we are called to protect the most vulnerable, and we count Mr. Panetti – a man who has suffered from severe mental illness for over 30 years – to be among them. If ever there was a clear case of an individual suffering from mental illness, this is it," reads the letter by the Evangelical leaders.
"Mr. Panetti is a paranoid schizophrenic, which was apparent at his trial, where he represented himself with his life on the line. He wore a TV-Western cowboy costume and attempted to subpoena the Pope, John F. Kennedy, and Jesus Christ. The fact that his trial was carried out in such a fashion is a mockery of the criminal justice system."
Panetti is expected to be executed by the state of Texas on December 3. The 56-year-old man was convicted of murdering his parents-in-law in 1992, The Guardian reported, and despite a long and complex legal battle in 1995, he was deemed competent to be executed.
The Christian leaders, as well as several of the nation's and Texas' leading mental health organizations, have pointed out, however, that Panetti was hospitalized 12 times due to psychotic behavior before he committed the murder.
The mental health professionals, who asked that Panetti be given life in prison instead of the death sentence, highlighted that the man has been diagnosed with paranoia, delusions, schizophrenia, depression, chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia with acute exacerbation, brain dysfunction, auditory hallucinations, posttraumatic stress disorder, and schizoaffective disorder.
Panetti also believes himself to be engaged in spiritual warfare with Satan, something which started back in 1986. His first wife had him involuntarily committed in an affidavit, stating that he appeared to be "obsessed" with the idea that the devil was in the house with them. Panetti attempted to exorcize his home, and buried his furniture in the backyard, because he believed it to be haunted by the devil.
He has suffered from mental illness for over 30 years in total, but unless he is granted a commutation or a court intervenes, he will be put to death.
"In order to be considered competent for execution, Mr. Panetti needs to understand the reason for his execution. He believes that he is being put to death for preaching the Gospel, not for the murder of his wife's parents," states the letter, signed by Evangelical leaders including the Rev. Sam Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, Lynn Hybels of the nationally prominent Willow Creek Church, and Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.
"The Gospel message compels us to speak for those without a voice and to care for the most vulnerable. For this reason, it is imperative that we treat those with mental illness in a fair and humane manner," it added.
Texas had initially planned to execute Panetti in 2004, but the execution was stayed by a federal judge. The Supreme Court eventually rejected the Fifth Circuit's standard for determining competency for the death penalty.
The Lone Star state has continued pushing for Panetti's death sentence, however, and in 2013 the Fifth Circuit again found him competent for execution.
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www.texasdefender.org/scott-panetti
November 14, 2014
Attorneys for Scott Panetti Ask Court to Stay Execution for First Competency Hearing in Nearly Seven Years
Widespread Opposition to Execution of Man with Schizophrenia who Believes Texas Wants to Execute Him for Preaching the Gospel
Today, 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, have 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.
Today’s 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 visit last week 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 can be accessed here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LFfr8Iqz_7NTFwUWJSYXNablZDcnBvdzFTQUhGTWxfczJR/view?usp=sharing
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; over 50 Evangelical leaders from Texas and nationally and 6 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.
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: http://texasdefender.org/scott-panetti.
To speak with Mr. Panetti’s attorneys, Greg Wiercioch and Kathryn Kase of Texas Defender Service, or if you would like to speak with mental health experts, please contact Laura Burstein at Laura.B...@Squirepb.com or 202-626-6868 (o) or 202-669-3411 (c).
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Steve Hall
The StandDown Texas Project
PO Box 13475
Austin, TX 78711
512.879.1675 (o
512.627.3011 (m
Skype: shall78711
@standdown_tx
@steve_hall