A Texas court has found that a severely mentally ill death-row inmate, Marcus Druery (pictured), is incompetent to be executed. Druery’s attorneys presented more than 150 pages of reports from mental health professionals arguing that, as a result of major mental illness, Druery does not understand why he is being punished, making it unconstitutional to execute him. His “paranoid and grandiose delusions…deprive him of a rational understanding of the connection between his crime and punishment,” one expert wrote. On April 4, the court agreed. Prosecutors did not contest Druery’s claims of incompetency, but retain the right to petition for reconsideration in the future if Druery’s mental state changes. Kate Black, one of Druery’s attorneys, said, “The state has the duty to make certain it does not violate the Constitution by executing an individual, like Mr. Druery, who suffers from a psychotic disorder that renders him incompetent for execution. We are pleased that they have taken that duty seriously.” Druery has long suffered from delusions and a psychotic disorder that doctors have consistently characterized as a form of schizophrenia. In 2009, his mental illness became so severe that he was transferred to a prison psychiatric unit. State doctors who have examined him since have consistently diagnosed him as delusional. An execution date was set for Druery in 2012, but he was granted a stay and, later, a competency hearing, which led to Monday’s decision.

(J. Walker, “Inmate spared execution: Lawyers agree on Druery’s mental incompetence,” The Bryan-College Station Eagle, April 6, 2016; A. Cohen, “Will Texas Execute a Psychotic Man?,” The Atlantic, July 30, 2012.) See Mental Illness.

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