Supreme Court Denies Execution Stay for Marvin Wilson
Updated Aug. 7 at 5:15 p.m.
Lee Kovarsky, lawyer for Marvin Wilson, said that the U.S. Supreme Court denied the request to stay his execution scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. He called the decision disappointing and said he was profoundly saddened.
"Ten years ago, this court categorically barred states from executing people with mental retardation," Kovarsky said. "Yet, tonight Texas will end the life of a man who was diagnosed with mental retardation by a court-appointed, board-certified specialist."
Kovarsky said the criteria Texas uses to determine mental disability in death penalty cases is a "decayed remainder ...
Comments (9)
Mary Gray
Why not ? He executed someone.
Samdavis
Because we're supposed to be a civilized country although our voting patterns in Texas seem to dispute that fact. Maybe you would be more comfortable in the Middle East where your thirst for revenge could be more easily slaked.
Dale Curry
No one, not even the state should have the right to kill. After the rash of exonerations, innocent people going to prison, and putting to death one obvious innocent man (Cameron Todd Willingham), the state has little to no credibility to stand on in executing anyone. And because, executing mentally retarded people is morally bankrupt.
Dudley Sharp
Hey, guess what, he isn't mentally retarded.
It is just anti death penalty nonsense.
All indications in Wilson's life are that he is not mentally retarded, as the tests confirm.
"The following evidence was presented in two hearings during the state habeas proceedings."
"Wilson presented school and prison training records, including standardized testing results. Five I.Q. scores are reflected in those reports. The first I.Q. test, the Lorge-Thorndike, was administered by Wilson’s school when he was approximately 13 years old. Wilson’s full-scale score on this test was 73. At age 29, Wilson was given an I.Q. test by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and scored 75. In April 2006, when Wilson was 46 and during the post-conviction proceedings, Wilson scored 61 on the WAIS III I.Q."
"Case: 09-70022 Document: 00511667534 Page: 10 Date Filed: 11/16/2011 test. On further testing by the defense, Wilson scored 75 on the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices and 79 on the TONI-II I.Q. tests. A score of 70 or below supports a finding of mental retardation. "
from
http://federal-circuits.vlex.com/vid/marvin-wilson-rick-thaler-director-332585578
Adam Russell
I think Thomas Steinbeck took a politically correct, tame line by saying his late father would be "deeply angry and ashamed" to know....
Steinbeck was the greatest painter of true human conditions. He did it with humor, humility and sometimes brutal honesty. Thomas is being kind.
His father, in his book Travels with Charley, held Texans in regard for their independence and gruff, unapologetic fervor for their home state. I am one of those Texans.
But Steinbeck would burn Austin to the ground with words. It would be a worthy torching. Maybe the scorched earth would reveal the hypocrisy and pompous piety found in fighting for the least stringent eligibility standards needed to add another notch to a district attorney's capital murder belt.
Samdavis
Well put Adam. It's about gaining political points not justice
Steve Donohue
The death penalty anywhere, is wrong. When any individual can be removed from death row or exonerated due to subsequent events it indicates the original process that established the penalty was invalid. I'm not saying Wilson was innocent, only that the process to arrive at a death penalty isn't infallible and therefore a life sentence versus killing the wrong person, or a person in error is inexcusable for any state.
Bill Carson
So much for the rule of law.
John Frum
Texas and the Supreme Court have just sent a message to the rest of the world: in Texas, a person with an IQ of 61 is not considered retarded.
No, in Texas, that's in the "normal" range.