Texas Withdraws Execution Date to Allow for Mental Competency Consideration

A Grayson County, Texas court has with­drawn the April 5, 2023 exe­cu­tion date for Andre Thomas (pic­tured), a seri­ous­ly men­tal­ly ill pris­on­er whose legal team request­ed more time to demon­strate that Thomas is incom­pe­tent to be exe­cut­ed. While incar­cer­at­ed, Thomas gouged out his own eyes and claimed divine direc­tion for his crimes. More than 100 reli­gious lead­ers, along with oth­er experts, had asked Gov. Greg Abbott to halt Thomas’ execution.

“The Court was right to fol­low the Constitution by with­draw­ing Andre Thomas’s exe­cu­tion date,” said Maurie Levin, an attor­ney for Thomas. ​“The Constitution and Texas law for­bid the exe­cu­tion of peo­ple who are insane. Mr. Thomas is such a per­son, as he is not com­pe­tent to be exe­cut­ed, lack­ing a ratio­nal under­stand­ing of the State’s rea­son for his execution…Mr. Thomas is one of the most men­tal­ly ill pris­on­ers in Texas his­to­ry, hav­ing gouged out both of his eyes and eat­en one of them. He has endured a pro­found and life­long men­tal ill­ness … Guiding this blind psy­chot­ic man to the gur­ney for exe­cu­tion offends our sense of human­i­ty and serves no legitimate purpose.”

On March 7, 2023, the same day that Thomas’s exe­cu­tion date was with­drawn, Texas exe­cut­ed Gary Green. Green’s attor­neys had argued that he was intel­lec­tu­al­ly dis­abled and that he had schizoaf­fec­tive dis­or­der. Arthur Brown, Jr., who is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in Texas on March 9, has also raised intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty claims. Brown main­tains his inno­cence and is seek­ing DNA test­ing of evi­dence. Texas is con­sid­er­ing leg­is­la­tion that would bar the exe­cu­tion of those with severe mental illness.