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| Supreme Court refuses to stop execution of mentally ill inmate |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/14/2004 |
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The U.S. Supreme Court refused yesterday to halt the execution next week of a convicted killer who has repeatedly been diagnosed as mentally ill. Kelsey Patterson, 50, is set for lethal injection Tuesday evening in Huntsville for the fatal shootings of a man and woman in Palestine in East Texas' Anderson County almost 14 years ago. An appeal to the high court asked that Patterson's lethal injection be delayed and that the court formally review his case. The court denied both requests. Additional appeals in the federal courts were planned, Patterson's lawyer said. The Supreme Court, in a 2002 ruling in a Virginia case, barred the execution of mentally retarded people. The same prohibition, however, has not been extended to those considered mentally ill. A request for clemency for Patterson was pending Thursday before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles but a vote by the panel wasn't expected until Monday, said J. Gary Hart, Patterson's attorney. Patterson left his home in Palestine the afternoon of Sept, 25, 1992, carrying a .38-caliber pistol, walked about a block to an oil company office where he shot the owner, Louis Oates, in the head. Oates' secretary was fatally shot after she walked outside, saw his body on the ground and started screaming. Patterson went home and took off his clothes. He was arrested in front of his home while walking on the street. In 1980 in Dallas and in 1983 in Palestine, Patterson was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges related to non-fatal shootings. He was found competent to be tried for the double slaying, however, and was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. If carried out Tuesday, Patterson's execution would be the ninth this year in Texas. |
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