Mentally Ill Man’s Execution Stayed in Texas

Three stays of exe­cu­tion were issued on February 4^th in cas­es in Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania. The United States Supreme Court briefly stayed an exe­cu­tion in Florida to exam­ine the appeal from Johnny Robinson. However, the Court vot­ed 5 – 4 to allow the exe­cu­tion to take place. In Pennsylvania, the March 11 exe­cu­tion of Kenneth Miller was stayed by a Philadelphia court. In Texas, a 60-day stay was grant­ed to Scott Panetti who was to be exe­cut­ed February 5. Panetti, who in the decade pri­or to his death sen­tence was sent to men­tal insti­tu­tions 14 times, is schiz­o­phrenic and his lawyers argued that he is unable to com­pre­hend the rea­son for his exe­cu­tion. For more on Panetti, Click Here. See also DPIC’s page on Mental Illness. (Associated Press, February 4^th and 5^th, 2004)