HUNTSVILLE, Texas - 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 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.
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.
the supreme court says that an I.Q. of 70 or less can exonerate you from the needle - but I've met very bad people who were stupid by choice and probably didn't hit the 70 mark.
With such problems as paranoid schizophrenia, drugs can be administered to keep them quiet... and if they can't be trusted to be quiet and "civil" -- why are they on the streets.
Ifferd - There has to be a certain ammount of faith in the Judicial system. I know its broke, I know there are lots of flaws, but to say that because one time out of thousands a convicted person might be innocent is reason to stay all executions I don't believe to be a reason at all. OJ Simpson should be dead by now IMO. I think the man sho killed that Dru Sojin girl should be executed as well as any others who committ violent murder.
Do that and you might see a change in how criminals view our friendly system thats currently in place. Prison is punishment - it should not be easy.
An eye for an eye , a tooth for a tooth says I .
Retarded or not , you killed someone , that's the bottom line . We routinely execute drunks and stoners who killed while intoxicated , I see no logical reason to exclude those with congenitally diminished mental capacity .
If you are tried and convicted by the prevailing rule of law , and the evidentiery gathering and examination techniques available at that time , you're guilty and should be executed after a reasonable period of appeal . I do not define an average of thirteen years as reasonable . DNA testing is about as final as any method will ever get , so I define reasonable as 1 year of appeals , then you get executed . I would be content to live by this .
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Kevin Haendiges
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Hang 'em!
Good points Stealthy.
Our judicial system may not be perfect, but it is better than any other system in the world. Yes, there are innocent people in prison and innocent people that have been executed too! Those are very rare cases, our system is set up to err on the side of innocence! Far more guilty people will go free, than innocent people executed!
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If your mother was an abortion proponent, would you be reading this right now?
Ifferd - There has to be a certain ammount of faith in the Judicial system. I know its broke, I know there are lots of flaws, but to say that because one time out of thousands a convicted person might be innocent is reason to stay all executions I don't believe to be a reason at all. OJ Simpson should be dead by now IMO. I think the man sho killed that Dru Sojin girl should be executed as well as any others who committ violent murder.
Do that and you might see a change in how criminals view our friendly system thats currently in place. Prison is punishment - it should not be easy.
If I'm reading this right (and please correct me if I'm wrong) you're saying that it acceptable that innocent people are occasionally executed. I'd be interested to hear your justification for this.
I think that the death penalty has fundemental flaws, so I don't think anyone should be executed. That said, if someone commits a violent crime, they need to go to jail for a long, long time. I also don't have a problem with jails being miserable places to be, jail should be punishment, no cable, no internet access. We shouldn't execute prisoners (IMO) but that's no reason not to make someone serving a life sentence wish they were dead.
Back on topic:
I don't think craziness should be a mitigating factor- if a crazy person commits a voilent crime that just shows me that they're fundamentally 'broken' and they should be put away for everyone's safety. If your craziness made you stab those 12 people when you went off your meds, you ought to be permanently locked up so that you're not a danger the next time you forget to take your pills.
Innocent people get executed occasionally , there is no way to prevent that , that's called "acceptable loss". If it weren't for this there would be no executions at all . The system recognizes that sometimes you get the wrong one , and this is acceptable to any society that wishes to avoid total anarchy . If getting one guy who didn't "do it" gets 10,000 who did I consider that acceptable , even if I was "the one" . Getting 10,000 killers off the street permanently is far more important than a single life will ever be , including mine .
Do you honestly want to feed someone for life who may have killed someone ? I don't . Should a retarded person who kills be treated differently ? My answer is no . Retarded people have been routinely institutionalized for hundreds of years , it doesn't solve anything and puts a needless burden on everyone else . The US is now the largest jailer on Earth , somehow I find that depressing .
Maybe I'm a little more hard core than most , but I get really sick when I hear the term convict rights . Convicts should only have the right to pay for their crime through pain and sufering or death where applicable . One of the few things I do like about Saudi Arabia is their penchant for executing killers on national television , I honestly wish that happened here , there would be far less killers . Retarded or not , you killed . If that can be proven beyond reasonable doubt , the cornerstone of our judicial process , then you should be killed in turn . A killer who is killed kills no more , if that isn't deterence then I don't know what is .
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Kevin Haendiges
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My personal view stands strongly against capital punishment. It clogs the courts, costs taxpayers millions upon millions more than life in prison sentences, and there is that wrongful conviction issue. Lock them up for life without parole, and let them spend the rest of their years in a concrete and steel cage.
Now since we have used and still do use the death penalty in this country, I don't see my vision coming into reality any time soon. But I find it morally wrong to execute the retarded and the mentally ill. It is not a person's "fault" (well, except for Ozzy, maybe), and we need to keep our emotions in check while serving justice. If a person's brain is functioning improperly, how we can prove that he/she murdered deliberately and thoughtfully. I really don't buy the recommendations of so-called expert witnesses; both the defense and prosecution can have a doctor spin whatever they want him to.
If justice really were blind, I might consider chanding my opinions.
Should Mentally ill Killers be exictuted
