On February 5th, Texas is sched­uled to exe­cute Scott Panetti, a men­tal­ly-ill man who defend­ed him­self at his tri­al despite the fact that he suf­fers from schiz­o­phre­nia and bipo­lar dis­or­der. Panetti was con­vict­ed of killing his par­ents-in-law in 1992, sev­er­al years after he was first diag­nosed with schiz­o­phre­nia. He was hos­pi­tal­ized for men­tal ill­ness in numer­ous facil­i­ties before the crime. Evidence sug­gests that Panetti was psy­chot­ic at the time of the shoot­ings, and that he may not have been com­pe­tent to stand tri­al when he did. When he served as his own attor­ney at tri­al, Panetti dressed as a cow­boy and pre­sent­ed an often ram­bling nar­ra­tive in his defense. His tri­al has been described by var­i­ous lawyers, doc­tors and fam­i­ly mem­bers who attend­ed as a cir­cus,” a joke,” a farce,” not moral,” and a mock­ery.” (Amnesty International Report, January 16, 2004) Read Amnesty International’s Report on Scott Panetti and men­tal ill­ness. See Mental Illness.

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