Inmate granted stay of execution
Federal appeals court: Mental disability claim needs to be considered.
A federal appeals court halted the execution of Robert Campbell with less than two hours to spare Tuesday, ruling that defense lawyers hadn’t been given a fair opportunity to argue that Campbell is ineligible for the death penalty because he has an intellectual disability.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Campbell’s lawyers presented enough new evidence of mental incapacity to allow them to fifile another appeal in federal court — despite the late request.
“It is regrettable that we are now reviewing evidence of intellectual disability at the 11th hour before Campbell’s scheduled execution. However, from the record before us, it appears that we cannot fault Campbell or his attorneys, present or past, for the delay,” Judge James Dennis wrote for the court’s threejudge panel.
The new evidence included two recently discovered elementary school tests, unavailable to defense lawyers because they had been subpoenaed by the Harris County district attorney’s offiffice in 1991, showing Campbell with an IQ of 68. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice failed to disclose another test, showing an IQ of 71, despite a request for such materials from defense lawyers in 2003, the court said.
In addition, an April exam--
ination by an Austin psychologist retained by defense lawyers — Leslie Rosenstein, who was appointed to the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists by Gov. Rick Perry — determined that Campbell had an IQ of 71, the court said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing people with mental retardation — known now as intellectual disability — violated the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. An IQ of 70 or below indicates “significantly subaverage intellectual function,” according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Campbell, 41, would have been the first U.S. inmate executed since a problematic execution in Oklahoma two weeks ago. He had two separate appeals, one claiming mental impairment and another that challenged the state’s plan to use a drug for which it will not reveal the source, as was the case with drugs used in Oklahoma.
“I am happy. The Lord prevailed,” Campbell said from a cell just outside the death chamber in Huntsville before being returned to death row at a prison about 45 miles to the east.
The drug-secrecy issue was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted his execution.
Campbell has been on death row for almost 22 years for the 1991 carjacking, sexual assault and murder of Alexandra Rendon, who was kidnapped from a gas station in Houston late at night.
Tuesday’s decision came five days after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals — presented with the same evidence of intellectual disability — declined to halt Campbell’s execution in a 5-4 ruling.
Writing in dissent, Judge Elsa Alcala said that Campbell’s lawyers presented “compelling evidence” that the inmate isn’t eligible for execution. “This court,” Alcala wrote, “should not base its decisions that determine whether a person will live or be executed based on misinformation or wholly inadequate information.”
Rob Owen, one of Campbell’s appeals lawyers, urged Texas officials to reduce Campbell’s sentence to life in prison.
“The time is right for the state of Texas to let go of its efforts to execute Mr. Campbell,” Owen said. “State officials should choose the path of resolution rather than pursuing months or years of further proceedings.”