[Deathpenalty] Urgent Action 13/15 - USA: Clemency Sought as Texas Execution Nears

[Rick Halperin]

TEXAS:


CLEMENCY SOUGHT AS TEXAS EXECUTION NEARS

Robert Ladd is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 29 January. He was 
sentenced to death in 1997
for a murder committed in 1996. The claim that he has an intellectual 
disability that would render
his execution unconstitutional was rejected by the courts.

View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample 
messages, here.

The body of Vicki Ann Garner was found in her home in Tyler, Texas on 25 
September 1996. The cause
of death was determined to have been strangulation. Robert Charles Ladd, who is 
now 57 years old,
was charged with capital murder on the grounds that the murder had taken place 
during the commission
of a burglary, sexual assault and arson. He was sentenced to death on 27 August 
1997.

In 2001, a federal District Court denied a claim that the trial lawyer had been 
constitutionally
ineffective for failing to present evidence at the sentencing of Robert Ladd’s 
“mental retardation”.
In 2002, the US Supreme Court, in Atkins v. Virginia, prohibited the execution 
of people with
“mental retardation”. The Court did not define retardation (now usually known 
as “intellectual
disability”), but pointed to definitions under which it is a disability, 
manifested before the age
of 18, characterized by significantly sub-average intellectual functioning 
(generally indicated by
an IQ under 70), with limitations in two or more adaptive skill areas. In 2005, 
a US District Court
judge held an Atkins evidentiary hearing in Robert Ladd’s case. For the 
defense, an expert testified
that in his opinion, based on interviews, tests, observations and a review of 
medical, juvenile, and
other records, Robert Ladd had significantly sub-average intellectual 
functioning, that his IQ had
been assessed at 67 when he was 13 years old, and that he had significant 
adaptive deficits,
including in work, money, social and communication skill areas. Robert Ladd’s 
sister testified about
his developmental difficulties as a child. For the state, a psychologist agreed 
that Ladd had shown
deficits in adaptive behavior in a number of areas, but concluded that he did 
not have intellectual
disability.

The District Court judge found that “by a preponderance of the evidence”, 
Robert Ladd has
“significantly sub-average intellectual functioning” and that it had manifested 
before he was 18.
However, the judge found that it had not been proven that his deficits in 
adaptive functioning were
“significant”. Both experts agreed that Robert Ladd had an anti-social 
personality disorder. The
defense expert testified that the adaptive deficits should be attributed to the 
intellectual
disability rather than this personality disorder. The state expert said the 
opposite. Although
stating that the state expert’s approach was “not beyond debate”, the judge 
found it more persuasive
than the defense expert’s opinion and upheld the death sentence. The US Court 
of Appeals affirmed
this decision in April 2014.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Robert Ladd’s trial lawyer, who was a former prosecutor, 
did no independent
investigation of his client’s records for the purposes of finding mitigating 
evidence to present at
the sentencing phase, instead relying on the prosecution to share with him 
whatever medical,
criminal and disciplinary records it obtained. However, the prosecution did not 
obtain Ladd’s
juvenile records and so his defense lawyer did not receive them either. The 
defense presented no
evidence at the sentencing apart from to argue that because the disciplinary 
infractions Robert Ladd
had committed while previously incarcerated were non-violent, he would not pose 
a risk of future
violence if sentenced to imprisonment for the murder, rather than death. A 
jury’s determination of
“future dangerousness” is a prerequisite for a death sentence in Texas – the 
state expert who would
later testify that Robert Ladd did not have intellectual disability had 
testified for the
prosecution at trial that Ladd would likely pose a future danger.

View the full Urgent Action here.

Name: Robert Charles Ladd (m)
Issues: Death penalty, Imminent execution, Legal concern UA: 13/15
Issue Date: 20 January 2015
Country: USA

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!

EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 13/15" in the subject line, 
and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent.

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office 
if sending appeals
after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, 
please forward it to us
at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please write immediately in English or your own language, including reference 
to prisoner number
#999237,
  *  Opposing the execution of Robert Ladd and calling for his sentence to be 
commuted;
  *  Expressing concern that the jury did not hear anything about his 
sub-average intellectual
     functioning, and that a federal judge found the question of whether he fell 
under the Atkins
     exemption to be a close call;
  *  Noting that the power of executive clemency is not constrained in the same 
way as courts can be;
  *  Acknowledging the seriousness of the crime and the suffering caused by 
violent crime.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 29 JANUARY 2015 TO:

Clemency Section, Board of Pardons and Paroles 8610 Shoal Creek Blvd. Austin, 
Texas 78757-6814, USA
Fax: 011 1 512 467 0945
Email: bpp-pio at tdcj.state.tx.us
Salutation: Dear Board members

Governor Greg Abbott
Office of the Governor
PO Box 12428
Austin, Texas, USA
Fax: 011 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor



And copies to:
Governor’s Press office
Fax: 011 1 512 463 1847

Office of the General Counsel
Fax: 011 1 512 463 1932


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