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| Court refuses to stop medicating inmate |
| By The Star-Telegram |
| Published: 06/15/2006 |
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FORT WORTH, TX - Two months ago, a Tarrant County judge ruled that Death Row inmate Steven Kenneth Staley should be forcibly medicated an order that could eventually make Staley competent enough to execute. And last week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to stand in the way of that controversial decision. Without issuing an opinion, the high court refused to stay Judge Wayne Salvant's order. “I'm distressed, and I think the people of Texas ought to be disappointed,” said defense attorney Jack Strickland, who asked the high court to intervene. “...They couldn't bother to have a lawyer brief it or argue it. ... They act like they couldn't be bothered.” Staley, 43, is a paranoid schizophrenic who killed the restaurant manager of a Steak and Ale in Fort Worth 17 years ago. He has refused to take his anti-psychotic medication because he thinks doctors are trying to poison him. He has had two dates with death, but both times his execution has been stopped because he was deemed incompetent. The law requires that inmates understand why they are being executed. Chuck Mallin, chief of the appellate division of the Tarrant County district attorney's office, said: “Strickland is absolutely correct about one thing: The state of Texas should be distressed because we haven't been able to execute a coldblooded, vicious killer.” About the only thing Strickland and Mallin agree on was that, because the high court didn't intervene, the order to forcibly medicate Staley is in now effect. “They can start giving him shots anytime they want,” Mallin said. Strickland said: “If someone walks over there with a judge's order and gives it to a doctor in the jail and it says to start shooting him up, I presume somebody might do it. They don't have the authority to tell the judge to take a hike.” Staley was sentenced to death in April 1991 for fatally shooting Robert Read, 35, after taking him hostage during a botched robbery at a Steak and Ale in west Fort Worth. In April, Mallin and prosecutor Jim Gibson filed a motion asking to have Staley forcibly medicated so he can become competent enough to execute. Strickland argued that forcibly medicating Staley to execute him is unconstitutional and violates his right to privacy. Salvant sided with prosecutors, marking what is believed to be the first time a Texas judge has ordered an incompetent Death Row inmate to be forcibly medicated. Strickland appealed Salvant's ruling to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and also asked it not to permit Staley to be forcibly medicated until all other courts have a chance to look at the issue. Strickland said he will possibly go back to Salvant or ask the federal court to intervene. When and if Staley ever becomes competent, an execution date will be set. “I think the fight is just beginning,” Mallin said. “If we're able to get an execution order ... I think the fight starts over again.” |
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