Texas governor considers reprieve for mentally ill inmate on death row

Texas governor considers reprieve for mentally ill inmate on death row

By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press
Last Updated 5:53 pm PDT Monday, May 17, 2004

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry considered a recommendation Monday that he either commute the death penalty of a mentally ill killer, or grant a reprieve. The execution is scheduled Tuesday evening.

If Perry follows the 5-1 vote of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, it would be the first time a Texas governor has granted an 11th hour halt to an execution because of an inmate's mental illness.

snip...
So far this year, the executions of three Texas inmates have been halted because the inmate was considered mentally retarded. For the first time, the state's highest criminal court last month commuted a death sentence because the convict was deemed retarded.

No such protections have been extended to inmates considered mentally ill. Since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, at least three mentally ill inmates have been executed in Texas.


more... http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/nation/story/1375133p-8610440c.html