Post by sclcookie on Jun 4, 2006 1:06:29 GMT -5
As execution date nears, inmate's mental state debated
Percy Walton's attorneys describe their client as a man who has lost all
touch with reality: He keeps no personal effects in his death row cell,
save for a mountain of salt and pepper packets. He rarely speaks, although
occasionally bursts into random bouts of laughter. The guards call him
"Horse" - short for "Crazy Horse" - and complain of his unbearable stench.
And when asked what he believes will happen to him if he is executed, the
triple killer's response, his attorneys said, was that he'd go to Burger
King.
Whether Walton - who is scheduled to die by injection June 8 - is indeed
insane and mentally retarded has been debated for nearly a decade. Some
believe he is faking his behavior to get off death row. Others argue he
simply doesn't meet the legal definition of insanity or mental
retardation.
The issue is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has just days left
to decide whether to take the case and determine if Walton should be
executed for the 1996 slayings of 3 neighbors in Danville.
Walton, 27, pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Jessie and Elizabeth
Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, and 33-year-old Archie Moore. The victims
were robbed and shot in the head; Moore's body was found stuffed in a
closet, his corpse doused in cologne. It was a crime Walton's own
attorneys describe as bizarre and senseless.
"The police told me later that Daddy was face down on the carpet in the
living room with his hands above his head, as if in prayer," the
Kendrick's daughter, Barbara Case, said softly, the memories of the
murders still vivid and painful. "Mother was in the dining area. ... He
said she had begged for her life - she had begged him not to kill her."
The Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to execute the insane and
mentally retarded, but left it up to the states to define retardation. In
their petition to the high court, Walton's attorneys argue that Walton is
suffering from schizophrenia and is incapable of understanding the concept
of death, therefore making him ineligible for execution. They have also
filed a clemency request with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine further arguing that
Walton is mentally retarded.
No competency hearing was held before Walton was sentenced to death and
various tests have yielded conflicting results on his mental state. The
Virginia attorney general's office has argued that intelligence scores
taken when Walton was 17 and 18 place him above the accepted range for
mental retardation. Mental retardation under Virginia law requires
"significantly subaverage intellectual functioning" at the onset of
adulthood. They also said testing by Walton's own experts did not find him
to be retarded.
But a 2003 evaluation by the Department of Corrections did find that
Walton appeared to be mentally retarded. Another evaluation found him to
be schizophrenic and psychotic with an IQ of 66. IQ scores below 70 are
generally considered in the realm of mental retardation.
However, the evaluation also stated that the IQ test that returned the
score of 66 is "not the gold standard for IQ testing," and noted that
previous testing of Walton "shows no mental retardation."
Walton was three days from execution in 2003 when U.S. District Judge
Samuel Wilson granted him a temporary stay so experts could explore his
mental state.
In the hearings that followed, prison guard Cecilia Turner testified that
Walton wouldn't leave his cell to take a shower, complaining about a man
in a white suit sitting on a gray box in his cell. Turner said she would
have to convince him the imaginary man was gone before he would come out.
Prison counselors and mental health specialists told the judge they
thought Walton was psychotic and delusional. While the lawyers debated in
court, Walton laughed and picked his nose.
But Wilson ultimately ruled that despite Walton's problems, he understands
his death sentence is punishment for his murder conviction and is
therefore competent.
In his 2003 order, Wilson noted the testimony of a prison psychiatrist who
considered Walton a "mentally limited, street-wise predator" who misled
people into thinking he was crazy.
In March, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 7-6 to affirm
Wilson's decision.
"His guilt and competence have been determined by 15 judges and we agree
with their findings," said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Attorney General
Bob McDonnell.
But Walton's mental state has deteriorated so much that he would probably
be unaware he was dying if he was executed, his attorney Nash Bilisoly
said.
"He does not comprehend any of the significance of what's going on,"
Bilisoly said. "He's so ill now that he just has no affect. He doesn't
have understanding, comprehension nor emotion."
Virginia's death row inmates are required to decide between lethal
injection and electrocution. If they refuse to choose, the default method
is injection. In 2003, Walton opted to die by electrocution, later telling
The Associated Press in a phone interview he had no idea why he had chosen
the chair.
"I don't even know," he told The AP shortly before his scheduled 2003
execution. "I think my man with the blue shirt, he circled one of the
words. He may have been my counselor. He asked me, 'Electrocution or
lethal injection.' I told him I wanted electrocution. I don't know (why).
I don't even know. I don't even know."
Walton's decision to die by electrocution unnerved Case, the Kendrick's
daughter, who does not believe Walton was insane or mentally retarded when
he murdered her parents.
"Maybe he's just gone stark raving mad being on death row," said Case, 68,
of Brandon, Miss. "But who knows? Only God knows."
On the Net: U.S. Supreme Court: www.supremecourtus.gov/
(source: Associated Press)
Percy Walton's attorneys describe their client as a man who has lost all
touch with reality: He keeps no personal effects in his death row cell,
save for a mountain of salt and pepper packets. He rarely speaks, although
occasionally bursts into random bouts of laughter. The guards call him
"Horse" - short for "Crazy Horse" - and complain of his unbearable stench.
And when asked what he believes will happen to him if he is executed, the
triple killer's response, his attorneys said, was that he'd go to Burger
King.
Whether Walton - who is scheduled to die by injection June 8 - is indeed
insane and mentally retarded has been debated for nearly a decade. Some
believe he is faking his behavior to get off death row. Others argue he
simply doesn't meet the legal definition of insanity or mental
retardation.
The issue is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has just days left
to decide whether to take the case and determine if Walton should be
executed for the 1996 slayings of 3 neighbors in Danville.
Walton, 27, pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Jessie and Elizabeth
Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, and 33-year-old Archie Moore. The victims
were robbed and shot in the head; Moore's body was found stuffed in a
closet, his corpse doused in cologne. It was a crime Walton's own
attorneys describe as bizarre and senseless.
"The police told me later that Daddy was face down on the carpet in the
living room with his hands above his head, as if in prayer," the
Kendrick's daughter, Barbara Case, said softly, the memories of the
murders still vivid and painful. "Mother was in the dining area. ... He
said she had begged for her life - she had begged him not to kill her."
The Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to execute the insane and
mentally retarded, but left it up to the states to define retardation. In
their petition to the high court, Walton's attorneys argue that Walton is
suffering from schizophrenia and is incapable of understanding the concept
of death, therefore making him ineligible for execution. They have also
filed a clemency request with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine further arguing that
Walton is mentally retarded.
No competency hearing was held before Walton was sentenced to death and
various tests have yielded conflicting results on his mental state. The
Virginia attorney general's office has argued that intelligence scores
taken when Walton was 17 and 18 place him above the accepted range for
mental retardation. Mental retardation under Virginia law requires
"significantly subaverage intellectual functioning" at the onset of
adulthood. They also said testing by Walton's own experts did not find him
to be retarded.
But a 2003 evaluation by the Department of Corrections did find that
Walton appeared to be mentally retarded. Another evaluation found him to
be schizophrenic and psychotic with an IQ of 66. IQ scores below 70 are
generally considered in the realm of mental retardation.
However, the evaluation also stated that the IQ test that returned the
score of 66 is "not the gold standard for IQ testing," and noted that
previous testing of Walton "shows no mental retardation."
Walton was three days from execution in 2003 when U.S. District Judge
Samuel Wilson granted him a temporary stay so experts could explore his
mental state.
In the hearings that followed, prison guard Cecilia Turner testified that
Walton wouldn't leave his cell to take a shower, complaining about a man
in a white suit sitting on a gray box in his cell. Turner said she would
have to convince him the imaginary man was gone before he would come out.
Prison counselors and mental health specialists told the judge they
thought Walton was psychotic and delusional. While the lawyers debated in
court, Walton laughed and picked his nose.
But Wilson ultimately ruled that despite Walton's problems, he understands
his death sentence is punishment for his murder conviction and is
therefore competent.
In his 2003 order, Wilson noted the testimony of a prison psychiatrist who
considered Walton a "mentally limited, street-wise predator" who misled
people into thinking he was crazy.
In March, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 7-6 to affirm
Wilson's decision.
"His guilt and competence have been determined by 15 judges and we agree
with their findings," said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Attorney General
Bob McDonnell.
But Walton's mental state has deteriorated so much that he would probably
be unaware he was dying if he was executed, his attorney Nash Bilisoly
said.
"He does not comprehend any of the significance of what's going on,"
Bilisoly said. "He's so ill now that he just has no affect. He doesn't
have understanding, comprehension nor emotion."
Virginia's death row inmates are required to decide between lethal
injection and electrocution. If they refuse to choose, the default method
is injection. In 2003, Walton opted to die by electrocution, later telling
The Associated Press in a phone interview he had no idea why he had chosen
the chair.
"I don't even know," he told The AP shortly before his scheduled 2003
execution. "I think my man with the blue shirt, he circled one of the
words. He may have been my counselor. He asked me, 'Electrocution or
lethal injection.' I told him I wanted electrocution. I don't know (why).
I don't even know. I don't even know."
Walton's decision to die by electrocution unnerved Case, the Kendrick's
daughter, who does not believe Walton was insane or mentally retarded when
he murdered her parents.
"Maybe he's just gone stark raving mad being on death row," said Case, 68,
of Brandon, Miss. "But who knows? Only God knows."
On the Net: U.S. Supreme Court: www.supremecourtus.gov/
(source: Associated Press)