Another Texas travesty

The next Texecution is set for Thursday . Louis Panetti, 45, has been in and out of mental hospitals 14 times. He represented himself at trial--in a cowboy outfit. He tried to subpoena Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy and Anne Bancroft as witnesses.

..."Allowing a schizophrenic in a cowboy costume to represent himself in a death penalty case gives new meaning to the term `frontier justice,' "said Jim Marcus, executive director of the defender service. "Given the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' history of tolerance for defense lawyers who sleep or use drugs and alcohol throughout death penalty trials, however, its laissez-faire approach is hardly surprising," he said.  Talk Left article



[Panetti is scheduled to be executed for] the 1992 murders of his wife’s parents, Joe and Amanda Alvardo, in Gillespie county. The execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST. Mr. Panetti is a severely mentally ill man who has been committed to mental institutions more than a dozen times, diagnosed with schizophrenia, manic depression, auditory hallucinations, brain dysfunction, homicidal ideation, and persecutory delusions. Mr. Panetti was allowed to represent himself during trial in a spectacle that observers described as a mockery of justice.

Mr. Panetti and his wife, Sonja, had separated because she was terrified of his growing insanity....Mr. Panetti began to threaten his wife and her family. Aware of his terrible illness, Sonja begged the police to take his guns away, but they refused. At the time of the crime, Mr. Panetti had lost all control; he had not been on his medication for days and he had no money to fill the prescription.

...An attorney who was called as a witness said “the courtroom had the atmosphere of a circus. The judge seemed to let Scott run free with his irrational questions and courtroom antics.” A different doctor stated “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?’”

Because he so frightened the jury, and because Texas does not offer the sentencing option of life without parole, jurors sentenced Mr. Panetti to death. Jurors later admitted that they would not have given him the death penalty had he not represented himself. At the very least, Mr. Panetti deserves a new trial, including a new competency hearing. True justice, however, would be served by a commutation of his death sentence to a lifetime in a mental institution where he can be properly cared for.

Executing people with severe mental illness constitutes a blatant human rights violation. Please contact Gov. Perry and express your outrage over the inhumanity of this execution. Urge him to commute Mr. Panetti’s sentence or grant him a new trial. Further urge him to declare a moratorium on executions and endorse legislation offering Texas defendants and juries the option of life without parole.  NCADP article

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