On July 24, a Texas coun­ty judge declined to order a psy­chi­atric eval­u­a­tion to deter­mine whether Marcus Druery is com­pe­tent to be exe­cut­ed on August 1. Earlier this month, Druery’s attor­neys request­ed a full inves­ti­ga­tion of his men­tal sta­tus, argu­ing he hears voic­es, believes he is being poi­soned with feces-spiked food, and lacks the under­stand­ing of his legal sit­u­a­tion required under the con­sti­tu­tion for exe­cu­tion. Reports by men­tal health offi­cials at the University of Texas show that Druery expe­ri­enced ongo­ing men­tal health prob­lems and is schiz­o­phrenic. Prison med­ical records also show Druery was pre­scribed anti-psy­chot­ic med­ica­tions and his men­tal sta­tus has fluc­tu­at­ed dur­ing his years on death row. Kate Black, one of Druery’s attor­neys, said that stan­dards set by the U.S. Supreme Court in Panetti vs. Quarterman require an inmate fac­ing exe­cu­tion to have a ​“ratio­nal under­stand­ing” of his crime and pun­ish­ment. In 2011, Druery claimed to be attacked by guards and pris­on­ers, say­ing, ​“They refused to unwire me from speak­ers. I was hooked up to speak­er sys­tem. I do not know who did it when, where or why. I thought I was sup­posed to go back out to the world.” Druery was sen­tenced to death for a rob­bery-mur­der that occurred in 2002. UPDATE: Execution stayed.

(A. Turner, ​“Killer called schiz­o­phrenic, but judge says exe­cu­tion can pro­ceed,” Houston Chronicle, July 24, 2012). See Mental Illness. Listen to DPIC’s pod­cast on Mental Illness. For more infor­ma­tion on this case, see Amnesty International’s sum­ma­ry.

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