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| Death row inmate ruled competent to be executed |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/01/2004 |
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Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti, who wore a purple cowboy costume during his 1995 capital murder trial and tried to subpoena Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy, is mentally competent to be executed, a federal judge ruled today. Panetti was spared from execution in February so the courts could explore his claim of mental illness. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, who ordered the execution delay, ruled that Panetti meets the standard set by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals of knowing that he committed two murders, that he is to be executed and why. Sparks, however, left intact the stay of execution as his ruling will likely be appealed to the court in New Orleans and possibly the Supreme Court. Panetti, 46, was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 1992 slayings of Amanda and Joe Alvarado, his estranged wife's parents in Fredericksburg. He was arrested after holding his estranged wife and their 3-year-old daughter hostage during a lengthy standoff with police following the shootings. Sonja Alvarado testified that after shooting her parents at close range with a rifle, Panetti turned the weapon on her and pulled the trigger, but it jammed. In the decade leading up to the slayings, Panetti was hospitalized for mental illness 14 times. He insisted on defending himself during the two-week trial, although a judge named a lawyer to provide legal explanations. During jury selection, he flipped a coin to decide whether a potential juror should be seated on the panel. His initial witness list sought to subpoena Jesus and Kennedy. Sparks said all the experts seemed to agree Panetti suffers from some form of mental illness but disagreed on the diagnosis and whether it interfered with his ability to understand why he was to be executed. While his lawyers say Panetti believes he is on death row for "preaching the Gospel," a psychiatrist and psychologist appointed by the state have described him as uncooperative and interested only in "filibustering about the Bible and the Lord." Hampton said western civilization for centuries has exempted the insane and mentally ill from extreme punishment. |
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