Doubts raised over killer's retardation
Posted on 06/11/2002 6:23:05 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Doubts raised over killer's retardation
06/11/2002
CONROE, Texas - Convicted killer Johnny Paul Penry's assertions of mental retardation are suspect because his medical records are filled with inconsistencies, prosecutors said Monday as testimony began in the punishment trial for the inmate who could get a third death sentence in a nearly 23-year-old murder case.
Joe Price, who has prosecuted Mr. Penry twice, told jurors Monday in Conroe, where the trial was moved, that some institutions where Mr. Penry has been hospitalized say he was severely brain damaged while others say he has only minimal damage.
In an opening statement to a jury that must decide between life in prison or death by injection, Mr. Price said assertions that Mr. Penry, 46, was abused as a child only seemed to surface whenever he got into trouble, and then it was unclear who abused him.
"You will see a lot of these medical records, and they will pull your heartstrings," he said. "About a year ago this time, the Enron Corp. was one of the most financially sound companies. All of that came crumbling down because the records did not mean what they said.
"Just like Enron, [Mr. Penry's] records do not always give an accurate picture. He's got no conscience. He's got no remorse."
John Wright, one of Mr. Penry's lawyers, responded that he was amazed prosecutors would argue that his client was not mentally retarded.
"John always has been and always will be a mentally retarded person," Mr. Wright said. "We'll show you that life in prison in this particular case is the right thing for Johnny and for society."
Mr. Penry, wearing a light blue checkered shirt and gray pants, sat motionless during opening statements. Before court began, he talked with his lawyers and occasionally smiled.
Mr. Penry has been sentenced to death twice, but each sentence was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, most recently last June.
In their last ruling, the justices let his murder conviction stand, meaning the only question for the jury to decide is punishment.
In April, another jury determined that Mr. Penry was mentally competent to stand trial. It was the third time a jury had found Mr. Penry competent.
Mr. Penry, who tests show has the intellectual ability of a 6- or 7-year-old, has spent nearly half his life locked up for killing Pamela Moseley Carpenter.
In 1986 and again in 2000, Mr. Penry was taken to a cell a few feet from the death chamber to await lethal injection. Both times he was granted a last-minute reprieve.
Another case pending with the U.S. Supreme Court could affect the Penry case. The high court is considering a Virginia case that questions the constitutionality of executing the mentally retarded. A ruling is expected this month.
Mr. Penry's IQ was found in the 50s and low 60s where 70 is considered mentally retarded.
Excerpt from this John Paul Penry article:
While Penry made sure no one was coming, Carpenter grabbed the pair of orange-handled scissors she had been using to make Halloween decorations and stabbed them into Penry's back. Penry then knocked the scissors out of her hand and pushed her to the floor. While she was on her way down, Penry whacked Carpenter's head on the stove. As she lay on the kitchen floor, Penry then stomped her with his work boots.
"We verified that later, because she had a perfect heel print on her side where he'd stomped her while she was on her stomach. It ruptured her kidney, and that's what actually killed her."
But Carpenter wasn't dead yet, nor was Penry through. After stomping her, he got down on the floor and raped her.
"Then he got up and went across the room and picked up those damn scissors," says Price. "Came back, sat down on her stomach and said, 'I'm sorry, but I've got to do this.' Said something about he couldn't have her squealing on him. And then he buried the scissors in her chest." That act, says Price, was a clear indication that Penry knew he had done something wrong and that he was in big trouble.
Even then, the notoriously strong-willed Carpenter refused to die.
"He thought that would kill her instantly," says Price, "but she reached up and pulled the goddamn scissors out. When she did that, it scared him and he jumped up and ran out of the house."
Carpenter managed to pull herself across the room to the telephone. First she called a friend, and then an ambulance. At the hospital, emergency room doctors were aware of only the stab wound. They mended the hole in Carpenter's chest and thought they had her stabilized. But when a catheter was inserted, her damaged kidney began hemorrhaging. Pam Carpenter immediately went into shock and died.
This is a leftie scam. Their objective is to sucker some democrat appointed judge to buy the argument that a killer's mental retardation should prevent him from having done to him what he was smart enough to do to someone else. Eventually a Carter or Clinton appointee will buy it.
Then, every other killer of death row will go into court claiming some degree of mitigation by virtue of "mental retardation." We'll "temporary mental retardation," "intermitant," "alcohol induced," "drug induced," "medication induced," and a 1000 others reasons. This killer isn't the issue. If a person was able to murder another, that act, alone, qualifies for the death penalty and NOTHING mitigates.
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.