Post by sclcookie on Jun 6, 2006 1:22:36 GMT -5
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA----PRESS RELEASE
Amnesty International Calls on Governor Kaine to Demonstrate Compassion,
Grant Clemency to Schizophrenic Man
Amnesty International called on Governor Tim Kaine in a letter sent
Thursday, June 1, to halt Thursday's scheduled execution of Percy Levar
Walton, who suffers from severe schizophrenia. The organization is further
concerned by evidence that Walton has at least borderline mental
retardation and the mental age of a young child. The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute those with mental retardation
and offenders under the age of 18. Walton was 18 years and one month old
when he committed the 1996 murders of Elizabeth and Jesse Hendrick, and
Archie Moore.
Walton, described as "floridly psychotic" by prison officials, has
vacillated between pleading guilty and not guilty, eventually telling his
attorney he wanted to be executed so that he could come back to life.
"How can the United States acknowledge the immorality of sentencing
juvenile offenders and those with mental retardation to death, but let the
practice of executing severely mentally ill offenders continue?" asked
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox. "Walton's decision
to plead guilty so that he could come to life again is on par with, if not
grossly more delusional than, many childhood fantasies. We urge Governor
Kaine to acknowledge that Walton is clearly divorced from reality and act
out of compassion to spare his life."
The execution of an insane prisoner violates the United States
Constitution under the 1986 Supreme Court ruling, Ford v. Wainwright.
However, Ford protections have proved minimal, as standards for
determining whether someone is insane have never been articulated.
According to the decision, a prisoner must only be found to make a
connection between his crime and punishment to be eligible for the death
penalty.
In a separate decision in 2002, Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court
prohibited the death penalty for people with mental retardation. The Court
reasoned that the impairments of defendants with mental retardation
diminish their personal culpability and their ability to understand
consequences, rendering the death penalty unjustifiable on grounds of
retribution or deterrence.
Amnesty International has called on its 1.8 million members worldwide to
send letters and emails to Governor Kaine, requesting that he commute
Walton's sentence.
"There is a profound inconsistency in exempting people with mental
retardation from the death penalty while leaving those with serious mental
illness exposed to it," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of AIUSA's
Program to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"In cases like Walton's, the difference between conditions is entirely
negligible. Walton cannot comprehend his sentence or prepare for death;
therefore, legally, he should be ineligible for the death penalty.
Governor Kaine has often mentioned his profound respect for human life. In
this tragic case, we hope he lets human compassion prevail and prevents
the execution of such a severely mentally ill individual. This would be a
true testament to his visionary leadership and commitment to human
dignity."
Virginia accounts for 95 of the 1,023 executions in the United States
since judicial killing resumed in 1977. In 1999, then-Virginian-Governor
James Gilmore commuted the death sentence of Calvin Swann on grounds of
his schizophrenia from which he had suffered since his late teens. Swann
was tried in front of the same judge, by the same prosecutor, and with the
same defense lawyer as Walton.
Background
Walton was sentenced to death for the murders of an elderly white couple,
Elizabeth and Jesse Hendrick, aged 81 and 80, and a 33-year-old black man,
Archie Moore, in the town of Danville in November 1996. He had displayed
signs of emerging mental illness since age 16. Walton manifested bizarre
beliefs and inappropriate behavior after his arrest, in pre-trial custody,
and during the trial. In a 1999 affidavit, his lawyer recalled how Walton
"did not meaningfully assist us in preparing a defense." The lawyer
recalled that "we were unable to convince Mr. Walton that he would not
come back to life" if he was executed.
Recent judicial decisions in Walton's case have illustrated this
disagreement and highlight the need for executive clemency to prevent the
injustice of killing a mentally ill man.
In May 2003, a District Court issued a stay of execution in order to
assess whether Walton was competent for execution under Ford. After
holding hearings, at which he heard conflicting professional opinions on
Walton's competence for execution, the judge ruled him competent under a
narrow interpretation of the Ford ruling.
The state successfully appealed for a rehearing in front of the full
Fourth Circuit court of 13 judges. In March 2006 a majority of 7 judges
concluded that the District Court had applied the correct legal standard.
The other 6 dissented, noting the "substantial evidence that Percy Levar
Walton does not understand that his execution will mean his death, defined
as the end of his physical life." They noted that "there is no dispute
that since his sentencing, Walton has fallen deeper and deeper into mental
illness." Clearly this group of federal judges was far from agreement on
how to resolve this issue. As the Fourth Circuit panel opinion noted,
"undoubtedly, determining whether a person is competent to be executed is
not an exact science."
For further information, see USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders
(AMR 51/003/2006, January 2006), at
web.amnesty.org/library/pdf/AMR510032006ENGLISH/$File/AMR5100306.pdf
(including further information on Walton's case).
(source: Amnesty International)
Amnesty International Calls on Governor Kaine to Demonstrate Compassion,
Grant Clemency to Schizophrenic Man
Amnesty International called on Governor Tim Kaine in a letter sent
Thursday, June 1, to halt Thursday's scheduled execution of Percy Levar
Walton, who suffers from severe schizophrenia. The organization is further
concerned by evidence that Walton has at least borderline mental
retardation and the mental age of a young child. The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute those with mental retardation
and offenders under the age of 18. Walton was 18 years and one month old
when he committed the 1996 murders of Elizabeth and Jesse Hendrick, and
Archie Moore.
Walton, described as "floridly psychotic" by prison officials, has
vacillated between pleading guilty and not guilty, eventually telling his
attorney he wanted to be executed so that he could come back to life.
"How can the United States acknowledge the immorality of sentencing
juvenile offenders and those with mental retardation to death, but let the
practice of executing severely mentally ill offenders continue?" asked
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox. "Walton's decision
to plead guilty so that he could come to life again is on par with, if not
grossly more delusional than, many childhood fantasies. We urge Governor
Kaine to acknowledge that Walton is clearly divorced from reality and act
out of compassion to spare his life."
The execution of an insane prisoner violates the United States
Constitution under the 1986 Supreme Court ruling, Ford v. Wainwright.
However, Ford protections have proved minimal, as standards for
determining whether someone is insane have never been articulated.
According to the decision, a prisoner must only be found to make a
connection between his crime and punishment to be eligible for the death
penalty.
In a separate decision in 2002, Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court
prohibited the death penalty for people with mental retardation. The Court
reasoned that the impairments of defendants with mental retardation
diminish their personal culpability and their ability to understand
consequences, rendering the death penalty unjustifiable on grounds of
retribution or deterrence.
Amnesty International has called on its 1.8 million members worldwide to
send letters and emails to Governor Kaine, requesting that he commute
Walton's sentence.
"There is a profound inconsistency in exempting people with mental
retardation from the death penalty while leaving those with serious mental
illness exposed to it," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of AIUSA's
Program to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"In cases like Walton's, the difference between conditions is entirely
negligible. Walton cannot comprehend his sentence or prepare for death;
therefore, legally, he should be ineligible for the death penalty.
Governor Kaine has often mentioned his profound respect for human life. In
this tragic case, we hope he lets human compassion prevail and prevents
the execution of such a severely mentally ill individual. This would be a
true testament to his visionary leadership and commitment to human
dignity."
Virginia accounts for 95 of the 1,023 executions in the United States
since judicial killing resumed in 1977. In 1999, then-Virginian-Governor
James Gilmore commuted the death sentence of Calvin Swann on grounds of
his schizophrenia from which he had suffered since his late teens. Swann
was tried in front of the same judge, by the same prosecutor, and with the
same defense lawyer as Walton.
Background
Walton was sentenced to death for the murders of an elderly white couple,
Elizabeth and Jesse Hendrick, aged 81 and 80, and a 33-year-old black man,
Archie Moore, in the town of Danville in November 1996. He had displayed
signs of emerging mental illness since age 16. Walton manifested bizarre
beliefs and inappropriate behavior after his arrest, in pre-trial custody,
and during the trial. In a 1999 affidavit, his lawyer recalled how Walton
"did not meaningfully assist us in preparing a defense." The lawyer
recalled that "we were unable to convince Mr. Walton that he would not
come back to life" if he was executed.
Recent judicial decisions in Walton's case have illustrated this
disagreement and highlight the need for executive clemency to prevent the
injustice of killing a mentally ill man.
In May 2003, a District Court issued a stay of execution in order to
assess whether Walton was competent for execution under Ford. After
holding hearings, at which he heard conflicting professional opinions on
Walton's competence for execution, the judge ruled him competent under a
narrow interpretation of the Ford ruling.
The state successfully appealed for a rehearing in front of the full
Fourth Circuit court of 13 judges. In March 2006 a majority of 7 judges
concluded that the District Court had applied the correct legal standard.
The other 6 dissented, noting the "substantial evidence that Percy Levar
Walton does not understand that his execution will mean his death, defined
as the end of his physical life." They noted that "there is no dispute
that since his sentencing, Walton has fallen deeper and deeper into mental
illness." Clearly this group of federal judges was far from agreement on
how to resolve this issue. As the Fourth Circuit panel opinion noted,
"undoubtedly, determining whether a person is competent to be executed is
not an exact science."
For further information, see USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders
(AMR 51/003/2006, January 2006), at
web.amnesty.org/library/pdf/AMR510032006ENGLISH/$File/AMR5100306.pdf
(including further information on Walton's case).
(source: Amnesty International)