Posted on 05/18/2004 6:29:44 PM PDT by new cruelty
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A mentally ill killer was executed Tuesday evening after Gov. Rick Perry rejected a parole board's highly unusual recommendation to commute his death sentence or delay the execution.
Kelsey Patterson, 50, also lost an appeal to the Supreme Court in the hour before he was put to death.
A diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, Patterson was condemned for a double slaying almost 12 years ago. His lethal injection renewed the legal quandary of whether it is proper to execute someone who is mentally ill when the Supreme Court says it is unconstitutional to execute someone who is mentally retarded.
Strapped to the death chamber gurney, Patterson mumbled, "No kin, no kin, no kin. I'm not guilty of a charge of capital murder. Give me my rights. I'm acquitted of capital murder."
As the warden leaned over him and asked if he had a final statement, Patterson responded, "Statement to what? Statement to what? I'm not guilty of the charge of capital murder."
He continued to ramble, saying "give me my life back" as the lethal drugs took effect. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.
At least three mentally ill prisoners have been executed in Texas since the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that severely mentally retarded inmates should not be executed.
In a 5-1 vote, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles endorsed a petition from Patterson's lawyers and supporters that he be spared. Texas resumed carrying out executions in 1982, and Monday's board action marked the first time at this late stage in a condemned inmate's case the panel recommended the governor commute a death sentence.
"State and federal courts have reviewed this case no fewer than 10 times, examining his claims of mental illness and competency, as well as various other legal issues," Perry said in a statement less than an hour before Patterson's execution time. "In each instance the courts have determined there is no legal bar to his execution."
Patterson's lawyer, J. Gary Hart, said he was outraged by his client's death.
"I don't even know what to think about this," he told The Associated Press. "I didn't see what the downside would be for (the governor) to follow the recommendation of the parole board."
Patterson was condemned for the 1992 shootings of Dorthy Harris, 41, a secretary at an oil company office in Palestine, and her boss, Louis Oates, 63.
Evidence showed Patterson left his home in Palestine, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas, shot Oates in the head with a .38-caliber pistol and then shot Harris when she began screaming.
Then he went home, took off his clothes and was arrested walking on the street.
Harris' daughter, Michele Smith, sobbed after watching the execution.
"I want to especially thank the governor for giving me a chance to start again and have an end to such a horrible time in my life," she said.
"I started the day off very pessimistic, but it ended as I prayed it would."
In 1980 in Dallas and in 1983 in Palestine, Patterson was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges related to nonfatal shootings.
Throughout his trial, outbursts earned Patterson repeated expulsions from the courtroom. He frequently talked about "remote control devices" and "implants" that controlled him.
While on death row, he wrote nearly incomprehensible letters to courts about having amnesty and a permanent stay of execution.
In March, Perry for the first time since taking office in 2000 commuted the death sentence of a prisoner. That inmate is mentally retarded, and was not within hours of a scheduled execution.
In 1998, four days before former self-confessed serial killer Henry Lee Lucas was to die, then-Gov. George W. Bush commuted Lucas' sentence after questions were raised about his conviction. It was the only death sentence commuted by Bush in his six years in office when 152 executions were carried out.
I want to move to Texas :-)
You're NOT unfeeling..you're RIGHT!
The one and only justification for taking a life is in defense of yourself or someone else.
This "I'm too stupid to know what I was doing." or ""I was abused as a child" is just so much horese$hit from people who don't think or care about the consequences of their actions until it's too late.
when the Supreme Court says it is unconstitutional to execute someone who is mentally retarded.
Would someone please show me where it says this is within their purview in the Constitution?
Perry rejects board opinion; killer executedPardons, parole panel wanted clemency for schizophrenic
01:34 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Rejecting a state board's unusual recommendation for a stay, Gov. Rick Perry allowed the execution Tuesday evening of death-row inmate Kelsey Patterson, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had voted 5-1 Monday to recommend that Mr. Patterson's sentence be commuted to life or that the governor grant a 120-day reprieve. Mr. Patterson's attorneys had argued that he suffers from mental illness and should not be executed. Ninety minutes before the execution was to occur, Mr. Perry declined to intervene.
Mr. Patterson was sentenced to death for the 1992 killings of Dorothy Harris and Louis Oates in Palestine.
In a prepared statement, Mr. Perry said he denied commutation or a stay because none of the courts that reviewed the case found any reason Mr. Patterson should not be executed.
'Very violent'
Mr. Perry said one reason he denied clemency was because "the defendant is a very violent individual. Texas has no life without parole sentencing option, and no one can guarantee this defendant would never be freed to commit other crimes were his sentence commuted."
As the warden leaned over him and asked if he had a final statement, Mr. Patterson responded, "Statement to what? Statement to what? I'm not guilty of the charge of capital murder."
Mr. Patterson continued to ramble, asking repeatedly for his rights. At one point, he said, "Go to hell." And as he was saying, "Give me my life back," the lethal drugs took effect.
Mr. Patterson gasped several times and took a deep breath. Nine minutes later, at 6:20 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
J. Gary Hart, Mr. Patterson's attorney, said he was outraged by the governor's actions. "I'm disappointed, I'm angry."
Michele Smith, whose mother, Dorothy Harris, was killed by Mr. Patterson, sobbed to reporters after watching the execution.
"I want to especially thank the governor for giving me a chance to start again and have an end to such a horrible time in my life," she said. "I started the day off very pessimistic, but it ended as I prayed it would."
Mixed reaction
Mr. Perry's decision to reject the Pardons and Paroles Board's recommendation only the fourth such decision in the last six years was greeted with dismay by death-penalty opponents and mental-health advocates and with approval by death-penalty supporters.
"It's a sad day for Texas," said Genevieve Tarlton Hearon, executive director of Capacity for Justice, a nonprofit organization dedicated to those who suffer from mental illness.
"I'm sick, I'm just crushed," she said. "Because if clemency cannot occur for this individual, then the possibility for it for any Texan is dim."
Dianne Clements of Justice for All, a criminal justice reform organization in Houston, said she was relieved by the decision and applauded the governor.
"He did exactly the right thing," she said.
Ms. Clements said she was disturbed not by Mr. Perry's decision, but by the board's recommendation.
The U.S. Supreme Court prohibits executing the insane and the mentally retarded, but not the mentally ill. If an inmate understands why he has been sentenced to death and that he is facing execution, he is eligible for execution.
Meets criteria
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Patterson met both criteria.
"I don't think there's a dispute about him being diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic," Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe said. "But that doesn't mean a person isn't accountable for what they do."
Clemency had been sought on Mr. Patterson's behalf not only by death-penalty opponents but also by 33 advocacy organizations for mental-health issues.
Before his capital trial, Mr. Patterson had been ruled incompetent in two other nonfatal shooting cases one in Dallas in 1980, the other in Palestine in 1983.
Mr. Patterson shot Mr. Oates, owner of an oil company, while he was standing on the company loading dock. When Ms. Harris, a secretary began screaming, Mr. Patterson shot her, too.
Afterward, he returned home, undressed and was arrested while walking naked in front of his house.
During his trial he talked frequently about being controlled by "remote control devices" and "implants."
Mr. Patterson's attorney, Mr. Hart, said public safety wasn't an issue, because if his client's sentence had been commuted to life, he would have been imprisoned at least 28 more years before eligibility for parole.
"That would make him 78 years old," he said. "Not only that, but the parole board's in charge" meaning authorities would need to vote to release Mr. Patterson.
The message from Mr. Perry's statement is: "That this is a mad dog, and we have to take him out and shoot him because it's the only way to handle it," Mr. Hart said.
Commutations rare
Commutations are relatively rare in Texas, but the Board of Pardons and Paroles has recommended three this year. In March, Mr. Perry granted a commutation to life for Robert Smith after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed he was mentally retarded.
Another commutation recommendation came in January in the case of Joe Lee Guy, who was a lookout but did not kill anyone in a 1993 robbery and murder in Hale County. Mr. Perry has yet to rule on that recommendation. Mr. Guy does not have an execution date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail djennings@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/051904texexecute.1d51bf076.html
Perry rejects board opinion; killer executed
Pardons, parole panel wanted clemency for schizophrenic
Kelsey Patterson Excerpt:
Mr. Perry said one reason he denied clemency was because "the defendant is a very violent individual. Texas has no life without parole sentencing option, and no one can guarantee this defendant would never be freed to commit other crimes were his sentence commuted."
As the warden leaned over him and asked if he had a final statement, Mr. Patterson responded, "Statement to what? Statement to what? I'm not guilty of the charge of capital murder."
< snip >
Michele Smith, whose mother, Dorothy Harris, was killed by Mr. Patterson, sobbed to reporters after watching the execution.
"I want to especially thank the governor for giving me a chance to start again and have an end to such a horrible time in my life," she said. "I started the day off very pessimistic, but it ended as I prayed it would."
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas Executions ping list!. . .don't be shy.
9 out of 10 shrinks will certify under oath that these killers did not sufficiently appreciate the significance of their murderous acts. The same shrinks will subsequently certify that each of them is a low risk for release a few years down the road. Liberals will gleefully accept such opinions as gospel and turn these animals loose on the community to kill again. On the pretext of "enlightened compassion," they will do anything to harm American society.
Perry is right to take no chances that Patterson will ever again be set free. But it's enough for me that God has "certified" that murderers must die.
The Liberals are sort of like Will Rogers:They never met a serial killer they didn't like.
Yeah, they remind me of those giggly star-struck groupies, sitting behind Bundy at his Florida trial.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.