Here are the facts of the case. This man was severely mentally ill prior to commission of his crime. We know what was in his head at the time, as it has been documented. He was totally out of touch with reality and consumed with conspiracies that were being perpetrated against him that included his wife and his co-workers. He believed his family was poisoning him and that his co-workers were assisting. He believed many more things that make virtually no sense which is evidence of his complete break with reality and decent into severe psychosis. He has continued to suffer psychosis. Meds can mediate the effects of psychosis, but they rarely relieve all symptoms: hence the psychotic individual's frequent hospitalizations.
Evidence of his psychotic state was withheld from the 3 judge panel that recommended death. One of the judges that sat on that panel has stated publicly that he would not have voted for the death sentence had that information been available to him. In other words, the man would have been sentenced to life without parole instead of death.
The justice system has publicly recongized that this man has been severely mentally ill the entire time he was in custody.
His mental illness is not in question. His guilt is not in question. What is in question is the execution of a mentally ill inmate who cannot fully comprehend what is happening and why. The Supreme Court, in 1986 ruled that the execution of mentally retarded and severely mentally ill inmates was illegal.
A schizophrenic is slave to their delusions and their halucinations. If they stop taking their medication, they are not responsible for doing what their illness has commanded they do. That is why they are treated with humane measures.
Like I said, we are not talking about an addict, we are not talking about someone with depression, we are talking about an individual with a severe psychotic illness.
I would challenge a few here to spend some time with psychotic individuals, and then come back and tell me how responsible, in control, and able to make decisions based on reality these individuals are.
If it were my own kid, I wouldn't be very ojective. I do know someone whose mother was murdered years ago (not by mentall ill person) and she moved against the death penalty for her mother's murderer. That boggled my mind and she was the one who discovered her mother's body. It stills boggles my mine even now.
