TX executing mentally impaired inmate today

[coda]

US Supreme Court allows execution of Texas inmate
By By MICHAEL GRACZYK – 24 minutes ago

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Tuesday evening execution of a Texas death row inmate whose lawyers say should be ineligible for the death penalty because of his low IQ.
Marvin Wilson, 54, was sentenced to death for killing a police informant two decades ago. The high court denied his request for a stay of execution less than two hours before his scheduled 6 p.m. lethal injection.

In their appeal to the high court, his attorneys pointed to a psychological test conducted in 2004 that pegged his IQ at 61, below the generally accepted minimum competency standard of 70. But lower courts agreed with state attorneys who questioned the test's validity.

Attorneys for the state argue that Wilson's claim is based on a single test that may have been faulty and that his mental impairment claim isn't supported by other tests and assessments of him over the years.

Wilson was convicted of murdering 21-year-old Jerry Williams in November 1992, several days after police seized 24 grams of cocaine from Wilson's apartment and arrested him. Witnesses testified that Wilson and another man, Andrew Lewis, beat Williams outside of a convenience store in Beaumont, about 80 miles east of Houston. Wilson, who was free on bond, accused Williams of snitching on him about the drugs, they said.

Witnesses said Wilson and Lewis then abducted Williams, and neighborhood residents said they heard a gunshot a short time later. Williams was found dead on the side of a road the next day, wearing only socks, severely beaten and shot in the head and neck at close range.

Wilson was arrested the next day when he reported to his parole officer on a robbery conviction for which he served less than four years of a 20-year prison sentence. It was the second time he had been sent to prison for robbery.
At Wilson's capital murder trial, Lewis' wife testified that Wilson confessed to the killing in front of her, her husband and his own wife.

"Don't be mad at Andrew because Andrew did not do it,"
Lewis' wife said Wilson told them. "I did it."Lewis received a life prison term for his involvement.

In Wilson's Supreme Court appeal, lead lawyer Lee Kovarsky said Wilson's language and math skills "never progressed beyond an elementary school level," that he reads and writes below a second-grade level and that he was unable to manage his finances, pay bills or hold down a job.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2002 outlawing the execution of the mentally impaired, but left it to states to determine what constitutes mental impairment. Kovarsky argues that Texas is trying to skirt the ban by altering the generally accepted definitions of mental impairment to the point where gaining relief for an inmate is "virtually unobtainable."

State attorneys say the court left it to states to develop appropriate standards for enforcing the ban and that Texas chose to incorporate a number of factors besides an inmate's IQ, including the inmate's adaptive behavior and functioning.

Edward Marshall, a Texas assistant attorney general, said records show Wilson habitually gave less than full effort and "was manipulative and deceitful when it suited his interest," and that the state considered his ability to show personal independence and social responsibility in making its determinations.

"Considering Wilson's drug-dealing, street-gambler, criminal lifestyle since an early age, he was obviously competent at managing money, and not having a 9-to-5 job is no critical failure," Marshall said. "Wilson created schemes using a decoy to screen his thefts, hustled for jobs in the community, and orchestrated the execution of the snitch, demonstrating inventiveness, drive and leadership."

Wilson's lawyers also had argued that additional DNA tests should be conducted on a gray hair from someone white that was found on Williams' body, suggesting someone else killed him. Wilson, Williams and Lewis are black.
Ed Shettle, the Jefferson County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Wilson, dismissed the theory of another killer as a "red herring."

"There was some testimony Marvin said: 'We're going to show you what happens to snitches around here,'" Shettle said.
Wilson will be the seventh person executed by lethal injection in Texas this year. At least seven other prisoners in the nation's most active death penalty state have execution dates in the coming months, including one later this month.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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US Supreme Court allows execution of Texas inmate (http://www.whig.com/story/19211664/killer-of-texas-police-snitch-set-to-die-tuesday)
Quincy Herald Whig - 35 minutes ago
Texas Set To Execute Marvin Wilson Despite Diagnosis Of 'Mental Retardation' (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/370862/20120806/marvin-wilson-texas-execution-mental-retardation-court.htm)
International Business Times - 1 day ago
Will Texas Execute a Man With an IQ of 61? (http://www.thenation.com/blog/169243/will-texas-execute-man-iq-61)
The Nation. (blog) - 1 day ago
More coverage (1) » (http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=dwOqxYcm1u_wDwMDa6o9RsRpvsYsM&hl=en&ned=us)



http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/ap_logo.gif?hl=en
http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/zoom-in.gif (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5gu2duoq5PD7aOvRBIb6tRvixs7Qg?docId=6b7a70240 dc5496f8479ab7029ec43d3&index=0)http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5hE2_3uH6IRpUVHcr_3HYI3iQDXjw?docId=e70fb01b5 3dd4b87a3ef2889e0acafe5&size=s2 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5gu2duoq5PD7aOvRBIb6tRvixs7Qg?docId=6b7a70240 dc5496f8479ab7029ec43d3&index=0)
FILE - This May 26, 2006 file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows death row inmate Marvin Wilson. Attorneys for the 54-year-old Wilson say he's mentally impaired and should be spared from lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, Tuesday evening. The high court has barred execution of mentally impaired people. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice, File)



http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gu2duoq5PD7aOvRBIb6tRvixs7Qg?docId=6b7a70240 dc5496f8479ab7029ec43d3

[Art Vandelay]

Wtf?

[JPSartre12]

.... this literally makes me sick

[Igor]

This is fucked up beyond measures.

[Rottenfruit]

Jesus i was reading this is a man who sucks his thumb like a infant does :( , this is a child in a grown mans body and probaly has little if none understanding of what he even did

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183903/Marvin-Wilson-Child-like-man-set-to-death-despite-having-IQ-61-sucking-thumb.html

[DasFapital]

disgusting

[RedHammer]

This, from the country of "justice and equality".

[RadioRaheem84]

This, from the country of "justice and equality".

....to be fair TX is our most reactionary state. But yes, the nation is not the bastion of justice.

Always remember that J. Edgar Hoover once said that, "justice is incidental to the law." What comes first and foremost is the preservation of the social order.

[Red Commissar]

And yet another victim of Texas's crude "tough on crime" nonsense, as he has been executed now. Even bourgeoise apologists of the current system acknowledge Texas is really, really crappy when it comes to here. Though not all the blame can be put on Texas, as the Supreme Court let it proceed despite an attempt to stay the execution.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Didn't Texas abolish the last meal, too? :(

[Skyhilist]

To be fair, most Texans probably don't have an IQ of above 70 to begin with.

[Threetune]

To be fair, most Texans probably don't have an IQ of above 70 to begin with.

That is very naughty. Now go and sit on the step.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

If that were here in Portugal... he probably would never have been caught in the first place, but if he was cought in the act... he would probably only spend a day in a police station and then be released, but if he went to court... he would probably have to wait several years before going to court, but if he did go to court... they would probably see that he was retarded, but if they couldn't see that... he would probably spend 5 years in prison.

The wonderfull portuguese justice system.

[Red Commissar]

Didn't Texas abolish the last meal, too? :(

Yes, that they did. Said it was a "waste" of tax payer's money to give this to "felons" after highlighting a few instances when some inmates ordered some "gourmet" items like a lobster dinner, recalling some of the local news broadcasts here fuming with the usual populist anger against criminals. What got the politicians trying to rile up anger was one guy who requested a ton of stuff and didn't eat it, and with Texas' electorate's love for cutting spending, it sold with people.

There used to be a site they listing what the person ate, along with their last words. Right now all that's left is the state's site for their last words. For the guy who was just executed, these were his:

"Bohannon, Peg and Kim, I love ya'll. Son, get your life right with Christ, also your mother. Give mom a hug for me and tell her that I love her. Ya'll do understand that I came here a sinner and leaving a saint. Take me home Jesus, take me home Lord, take me home Lord. I ain't left yet, must be a miracle. I am a miracle. I see you, Rich. Don't cry son, don't cry baby. I love ya'll. I'm ready." (http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/dr_info/wilsonmarvinlast.html)

[Igor]

To be fair, most Texans probably don't have an IQ of above 70 to begin with.

This is stupid. I have no idea why all kinds of ridiculous stereotyping gets some kind of a free pass when we're talking about Americans or especially the American South, which also pretty much happens to be the poorest region in the country. So cut this shit out, classism and spreading national stereotypes should never be something the revolutionary left accepts.

Also cutting the last meal, seriously? That's honestly pretty repulsive, though I guess it fits quite well to this ideology of dehumanizing criminals completely. Let's just burn down the prisons already.

[IrishWorker]

Did this go ahead?

[Art Vandelay]

Did this go ahead?

Yes.

[IrishWorker]

Yes.

Simply disgraceful act, although I'm no pacifist and do support the death penalty under certain circumstances, and another nail in the coffin of the American "justice system".

[Prometeo liberado]

I was with some men in jail recently that are stretching out their trials as long as possible in hopes that Cali will reverse its death penalty by ballot in November. Holding for a life in a cage. I dare anyone to find sanity here, anywhere.

[Bostana]

This is what happens when you give rednecks authority in the government

[Prometeo liberado]

This is what happens when you give rednecks authority in the government

Don't fool yourself comrade, these are very calculating people and the message they are sending is very clear. Power, raw naked power in the face of all reason.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

To give you an idea, the guy is so mentally handicapped that he cannot even match his socks! An absolute crime, this makes me sick... where is the international community now?

[Lynx]

Had he been white, would he have been executed?

[A Marxist Historian]

To be fair, most Texans probably don't have an IQ of above 70 to begin with.

Only the white ones, who, fortunately, are pretty soon no longer going to be the majority.:D

Though it's hard not to notice that Texas is the state that contributed Dubya to American politics. And then you have the current governor of Texas, such a dimwit that even the Tea Party people couldn't stand him when he tried to get the Republican nomination for Prez.

Texas is notoriously fond of executing mentally retarded people, has been for a long time. I've often wondered if this was because if they couldn't, they might not get to execute as many people as they like.

I mean, hey, in a state that can send Dubya to the presidency, not executing somebody just because he has the mind of a child might seem unfair.

-M.H.-

[MarxSchmarx]

To be fair, most Texans probably don't have an IQ of above 70 to begin with.

This is pretty low. It's bad enough the capitalist state lauds the power of life and death over its subjects, much less kills somebody who is so severely disabled that they likely cannot really function in society. Granted capitalism is no joke yet we ridicule its excesses routinely, but there is such a thing as decorum and respect that should be expected of leftists for the victims of the machine of death that is the government of Texas.