UPDATE: Brannan was denied clemency by Georgia on Jan.12. Andrew Brannan, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, is scheduled to be executed in Georgia on January 13. His execution would be the first of 2015. Brannan’s attorneys are asking the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency because Brannan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. A police video from the crime scene illustrated Brannan’s erratic behavior. Joe Loveland, one of Brannan’s attorneys, said, “There was a direct connection between his service in Vietnam and the violence that he was exposed to there and the ultimate events that occurred here. The basic question really is, should a 66-year-old Vietnam War veteran with no prior criminal record and who was 100 percent disabled under the VA standards, both with PTSD and bipolar disorder, at the time of the murder of the deputy sheriff—should that person be executed?”

(Q. Lawrence, “Lawyers Try To Fight Death Penalty With New PTSD Understanding,” NPR interview, January 6, 2015). For more information, click here (GFADP). See Clemency and Mental Illness.

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