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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