Death row inmate to get case reconsidered, mental health evaluation after court ruling
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a Central Texas death row inmate, ordering Tuesday that Scott Panetti’s case be returned to federal district court in Kerr County.
The appellate court also issued orders to appoint counsel, authorize funds for a mental health evaluation and allow adequate time to prepare a petition claiming Panetti is currently incompetent to be executed.
A spokesman with the attorney general’s office declined comment because the case is ongoing. The AG’s solicitor general’s office is prosecuting Panetti’s case.
Panetti, who suffers from schizophrenia, shot and killed his in-laws in Fredericksburg in 1992. Dressed as a cowboy, he insisted on representing himself at his trial and attempted to subpoena the pope, John F. Kennedy and Jesus Christ. Panetti was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Panetti has twice been granted a stay of execution, in 2004 and 2014. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Panetti’s execution, saying lower courts should have considered psychiatric evidence about his mental illness.
His attorneys, Greg Wiercioch and Kathryn Kase, released a statement Tuesday saying Panetti has suffered from extreme mental illness for nearly 40 years and hasn’t been evaluated by a mental health expert since 2007.
A defendant must be found competent in order to be executed. Competency is defined by state laws as being aware of what is going on in the case. Panetti’s attorneys said he was convinced the reason he was going to be executed in 2014 was for preaching the Gospels.
His attorneys released a statement: “We are grateful that the