In a case spot­light­ing issues of men­tal ill­ness and the death penal­ty, the Florida Supreme Court on April 23 unan­i­mous­ly over­turned the death sen­tence imposed on a severe­ly men­tal­ly ill death-row inmate, Humberto Delgado (pic­tured). Delgado, who was con­vict­ed of killing a Tampa police offi­cer, will be resen­tenced to life with­out parole. The court said, ​“We do not down­play the fact that Corporal Roberts lost his life as a result of Delgado’s actions. However … we are com­pelled to reduce Delgado’s sen­tence to life impris­on­ment because death is not a pro­por­tion­ate penal­ty when com­pared to oth­er cas­es.” Delgado had a his­to­ry of delu­sions and psy­chot­ic behav­ior before the crime, includ­ing believ­ing that police were out to kill him and that peo­ple were fol­low­ing him and sit­ting in trees out­side his home. Delgado’s attor­neys point­ed out that, because Delgado shot the police offi­cer only after the offi­cer had used a Taser, there was a lack of pre­med­i­ta­tion. Tampa police Chief Jane Castor released a state­ment in response to the deci­sion, say­ing, ​“We respect the jus­tice sys­tem and those who have to make tough deci­sions. Regardless of the con­clu­sion, it does­n’t bring Mike back and it does­n’t relieve the pain that his wife, son and his TPD fam­i­ly feel. His life sen­tence will still ensure he is held account­able for his actions.” 

(D. Sullivan, ​“Supreme Court over­turns death sen­tence for killer of Tampa police cor­po­ral,” Tampa Bay Times, April 23, 2015.) See Arbitrariness and Mental Illness.

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