Death Penalty in the US: A Mentally Ill Man Executed
His illness was not enough. Marvin Wilson, a 54-year-old African American man convicted of murder in 1998, was executed Tuesday in Texas despite the fact he was diagnosed as mentally disabled, as we learned from prison authorities in the state located in the southern U.S. After 18 months on death row, Marvin Wilson, who was convicted of the 1992 murder of a police informant, was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 6:27 p.m. local time.
In the afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal by his lawyers. Several human rights organizations spoke out against this execution. Among them, Amnesty International said the Supreme Court's decision not to postpone the execution was "particularly disturbing," according to a statement.
In 2004, with an IQ of 61 — well below the average for his age — Marvin Wilson was diagnosed with mild mental retardation according to specific criteria by the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
In 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of those diagnosed as mentally disabled because their disability “would run the risk of wrongful execution.” But the Supreme Court, in the ruling Atkins v. Virginia, did not give a precise definition of mental retardation, leaving each state to set requirements for determining this type of disability. And according to the criteria set forth in Texas, Marvin Wilson did not suffer from a mental disability.
On July 18 Yokamon Hearn, a 34-year-old African American man, was executed in Texas, despite evidence of a mental disorder since childhood and many protests. On July 23, however, the execution of a condemned man also suffering from a mental disorder was suspended in Georgia (Southeast), two hours away from the site of the Texas execution, due to a change in lethal injection procedures.
Wilson was the 25th inmate executed this year, and the seventh from Texas.
In the afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal by his lawyers. Several human rights organizations spoke out against this execution. Among them, Amnesty International said the Supreme Court's decision not to postpone the execution was "particularly disturbing," according to a statement.
In 2004, with an IQ of 61 — well below the average for his age — Marvin Wilson was diagnosed with mild mental retardation according to specific criteria by the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
In 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of those diagnosed as mentally disabled because their disability “would run the risk of wrongful execution.” But the Supreme Court, in the ruling Atkins v. Virginia, did not give a precise definition of mental retardation, leaving each state to set requirements for determining this type of disability. And according to the criteria set forth in Texas, Marvin Wilson did not suffer from a mental disability.
On July 18 Yokamon Hearn, a 34-year-old African American man, was executed in Texas, despite evidence of a mental disorder since childhood and many protests. On July 23, however, the execution of a condemned man also suffering from a mental disorder was suspended in Georgia (Southeast), two hours away from the site of the Texas execution, due to a change in lethal injection procedures.
Wilson was the 25th inmate executed this year, and the seventh from Texas.