Court of Criminal Appeals Stays Druery's Execution
Updated, July 27, 2012:
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday granted a stay of execution for Marcus Druery, who was scheduled for lethal injection on Wednesday.
Druery's lawyers argue that his severe mental illness has rendered him incompetent to be executed. They sought a stay of execution from the state's highest criminal court after Brazos County state district Judge J.D. Langley denied their request this week for a hearing to determine whether Druery was competent to face execution.
"Executing Mr. Druery, who lacks a rational understanding of his punishment, would stand in clear violation of ...
Comments (14)
Dudley Sharp
“Since the setting of the execution date, we’ve seen an even more rapid decline,” Black said. “His delusional thought content is becoming more disorganized.”
What an interesting coincidence.
Has anyone noticed how being on death row can dramatically increase some inmate's imagination, with that imagination getting even more creative the closer to the execution date?
Rudy Gonzales
Since Rick Perry already has Cunningham's blood on his hands, I doubt things could change. Do not execute anyone in my name. Allow God to execute in his own way.
Dale Curry
Not since Hitler gassed the mentally ill and mentally retarded, have we seen a state so focused on terminating those lives the state deems unworthy of living ("Lebensunwertes Leben"). Most rational people familiar with the situation, know the state of texas has executed one innocent man, Cameron Todd Willingham. With recent exonerations, how can it not be clear to the most ardent death penalty supporter that Texas system of justice in Capital cases is severely broken. While I do not know off Mr. Druery's guilt of innocence, I do recognize this system is so dysfunctional as to challenge the integrity of this judgement.
andy kahan
The victim who was brutally shot and murdered by Druery had a name: Skyyler Browne
If you are going to give the defendant the dignity of having the name the same courtesy should apply to the innocent victim.
Brandi Grissom
Andy, the victim's name is in the story. Look at this graph:
"Druery was sentenced to death in 2003 after his conviction in the murder of Skyyler Browne. Druery, along with two teenagers, drove Browne to a pasture. Druery shot Browne repeatedly, took his cellphone, cash, pager and a bag of marijuana and set his body on fire before tossing it in a stock pond. Browne's body was found two weeks later. The two teenagers were not charged in the crime."
Dudley Sharp
Dale:
Hitler executed those who had done nothing wrong.
Texas executes murderers.
You inability to know the moral differences is striking.
Rudy:
In the Christian religion, as with others, the power and right of men to executed wrongdoers came directly from God.
Secularly, that power comes from the right to impose justice.
A. Bryant
Druery seems to write some fine, coherent letters.
Maybe he will be less delusional if his sentence were changed to Life in Prison without the possibility of parole.
A. Bryant
Dudly Sharp,
Many an inmate has come close to being executed in Texas due to Prosecuting Attorneys and Judges who hide evidence, lie, and do not do the "proper" DNA test.
Everybody knows Cunningham was innocent, and; there are others on Death Row waiting for the proper DNA to be done.
Thanks goodness for the Innocense Project. No Dud, I am not a member of the Innocense Project so stop the accusations!
Investigator A. Bryant
A. Bryant
Dale and Dudley,
Dale, I know what you meant and you are 100% correct. Our-Unjustice system is in bad need of repair and has been broken for a long time.
Dud needs to get off line while he is smoking.
Samdavis
"In the Christian religion, as with others, the power and right of men to executed wrongdoers came directly from God." Really? Perhaps the Old Testament can be construed that way.
There's a newer compilation called the "New Testament". Apparently you haven't heard of it but it's the book where most of Christian ideology originates. Nothing that remotely approaches your rather ludicrous assertions is contained in that book. Yes, it has been used for all sorts of justification for killing people, keeping slaves, giving preferences to big business, and depriving women of their rights, but the whole upthrust of the book is about love and tolerance.
Give it a try, your posts show you have never read it. Remember, there's always hope for people like you.
Greg Hansch
Executing this man would be cruel, barbaric, and unconstitutional. His execution should be stayed.
Christine Lund
We aren't God. How can any human being put another to death? I might in anger and rage, become insane momentarily and kill someone, anyone might. But to purposefully kill someone is insane behavior for a civil society. Add to that, insanity. Mental health problems are society's responsiblity. We must protect those that cannot protect themselves. To be the aggressor is insane behavior.
Mickey Stevens
"In the Christian religion, as with others, the power and right of men to executed wrongdoers came directly from God."
This shows an extremely limited understanding of Christianity, similar to the understanding that the Pharisees had. Jesus came to show us what the Kingdom of God really is. But, many at that time refused to see because it did not align with the way they thought it should be. The same is true today.
Jesus actually confronted the issue of capital punishment. Remember the story of the adulterous woman who was to be stoned? The law required that she be put to death for her crime. She was a wrongdoer whom the law said had to be executed. Furthermore, the law required that anyone who interfered with the carrying out of this punishment was also to be put to death. This is why they asked Jesus about the situation. They hoped he would interfere so they could execute him also. But, how did he react? He said, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
What is the message of this story? The message is about God's grace and that we are all sinners saved only by his grace. The fact is, because we are all sinners, none of us is any better than anyone else. Think of the worst criminal you can think of...without the grace of God, neither you nor I is any better than that person. The wages of sin is death. We are all sinners, therefore, we all deserve death. But, the grace of God is sufficient. The grace of God is sufficient to save us from any sin. The grace of God is sufficient to save even the worst of the worst criminal. If you claim to be a Christian, then you have to believe that. His grace is without limit. The grace of God is more than just God's unmerited favor. Grace inolves the power of God. This is the power that conquered sin and death through the resurrection of Christ. And, God has given us his grace so that we may overcome sin and death.
So, how does this relate to the death penalty? We can believe the death penalty is okay because there are some people who do things so bad that we believe they should pay the ultimate price. Yet, because we are all sinners, we are no better than they are. We are sinners but we know that through God's grace we have forgiveness. Because we are forgiven we have a responsibility to forgive others. You may think that you can't forgive someone who has committed a horrible crime (for example, the guy in Colorado). And, it may be that it is not in our own human capacity to extend this type of forgiveness. But, through the grace and power of God, we can forgive even the worst of the worst. Because we have been given God's limitless grace and forgiveness, we have a responsibility to extend that grace and forgiveness to others.
I've heard the justifications from the Old Testament for the death penalty all my life. And, I used to buy them. Now I realize that that reasoning is just trying to hold onto the old law to justify one's actions, like the Pharisees did. Jesus came to tell us that through the grace and power of God we can be better than we can be under the law. Sure, the law may allow us (via the government) to execute certain people. But, because we have the grace and power of God in our lives we can forgive even the worst of the worst. Not only can we, but we have an obligation to do so.
Furthermore, if one is going to rely on the Old Testament law, one shouldn't pick and choose which parts to follow and ignore others. The old law required the death penalty for things like adultery. So, I assume that those who use the Old Testament to defend the death penalty would be okay if the Texas legislature starts executing people for adultery. After all, that is what the law requires. If we are going to use the law to justify our actions, we can't pick and choose which parts of it we want and discard the rest, can we?
I'm not trying to put anyone down here. I used to think the same way the person who wrote the comment thinks. I just hope that this person, and others, will give some thought to the story I mentioned where Jesus was confronted with the issue of the death penalty and why he handled it the way he did. You may come to a different understanding than I did, and that's okay.
Whether we want to admit it or not, our motivations for wanting to impose the death penalty come down to nothing more than revenge. We can talk about deterence, incapacitation, even justice - but those are all just ways to make us feel better about revenge. Revenge is really the only true motive for the death penalty. Through God's grace and power, we can be better than that.
Anya Khan
Please pray for the family of Skyler Browne, and that the murderer asks the family for forgiveness. I oppose the death penalty, but he was sane enough to efficiently commit this crime.