Some legal and psy­chi­atric experts have con­clud­ed that vet­er­ans with post-trau­mat­ic stress dis­or­der should be inel­i­gi­ble for exe­cu­tion. In an arti­cle in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, men­tal health experts Drs. Hal Wortzel and David Arciniegas wrote, ​“The tragedy of the wound­ed com­bat vet­er­an who faces exe­cu­tion by the nation he has served seems to be an avoid­able one, and we, as a soci­ety, should take action to ensure that it does not hap­pen.” A 2008 study by the RAND Corporation esti­mat­ed that about 300,000 of the 1.64 mil­lion mil­i­tary mem­bers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan had post-trau­mat­ic stress dis­or­der. The study also found that only 53% of those with such a diag­no­sis had received treat­ment in the pre­vi­ous 12 months. In 2008, the New York Times report­ed 121 cas­es in which vet­er­ans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had been charged with killings. In Texas, an Iraq vet­er­an named John Thuesen is on death row for shoot­ing his girl­friend and her broth­er in 2009. Thuesen suf­fers from post-trau­mat­ic stress dis­or­der, and his attor­neys have argued he would have received a life sen­tence if the jury had been ful­ly informed of his illness.

Prior to the mur­der, Thuesen had checked into a Department of Veterans Affairs hos­pi­tal, but was released after a few days, despite his par­ents’ wish­es that he be treated further.

(B. Grissom, ​“Considering War’s Toll in Debate on Death Row,” Texas Tribune, December 26, 2013). See Mental Illness and Studies.

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