[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, WYO.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 29



TEXAS----imminent execution

Texas Court Declines To Stop Execution Of Man With An IQ Of 67----Robert Ladd 
is ineligible for the death penalty because of his intellectual disability, his 
attorneys contend. He is scheduled to be executed in Texas at 6 p.m. CT.



Robert Ladd, who is scheduled to be executed in Texas Thursday for the 1996 
murder of a woman, has an intellectual disability and is ineligible for the 
death penalty, his lawyers argue.

After the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday denied a motion to stay 
his execution, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing 
Ladd, filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

His lawyers said that Ladd has an intellectual disability and an IQ of 67 and 
would be considered ineligible for the death penalty in any other state.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2 landmark cases that executing inmates with 
intellectual disabilities is a violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel 
and unusual punishment.

However, Ladd does not meet Texas courts' standards for intellectual 
disability, which, the ACLU said, were based in part on the character of Lennie 
Small in John Steinbeck's book Of Mice and Men.

"Anywhere else in the country, Mr. Ladd's IQ of 67 would have meant a life 
sentence, not death," Brian Stull, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's 
Capital Punishment Project who is representing Ladd, said in a statement.

Stull added that Texas courts "insist on severely misjudging" Ladd's 
intellectual capacity, citing the intellectual disability standards that were 
"crafted from Of Mice and Men and other sources that have nothing to do with 
science or medicine."

"Robert Ladd's fate shouldn't depend on a novella," Stull said.

The ACLU has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court 
to review the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' decision.

Ladd is also a defendant in a separate lawsuit that questions the "quality and 
viability" of Texas' supply of its lethal injection drug, pentobarbital. 
According to the lawsuit, there were concerns that the state's dwindling supply 
of compounded pentobarbital was no longer viable and would cause Ladd 
excruciating pain, violating the Eighth Amendment.

An appeal to grant a temporary stay of execution was rejected by the 5th U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

His attorney in this case, Maurie Levin, has filed an appeal with the Supreme 
Court to halt the execution.

In 1997, Ladd was sentenced to death for raping and murdering Vickie Ann Garner 
at her home.

Garner, 38, was "borderline mentally retarded" and worked at the Andrews 
Center, which helped people with intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses 
employment. She was found raped and beaten to death at her home, according to 
court documents. Her house had also been burglarized and set on fire.

Prior to her death, Garner's legs and wrist had been bound by a cord.

Before Garner's death, Ladd had served 16 years of a 40-year sentence for the 
1978 murder of a woman and 2 children. Their house was also set on fire.

When he was 13, Ladd was first labeled "fairly obviously retarded" by the Texas 
Youth Commission, his appeal stated. In an affidavit, the psychiatrist 
confirmed his initial diagnosis of mental retardation after Ladd's IQ test and 
3 interviews. Ladd logged an IQ score of 67.

At age 36, Ladd also qualified for services at the Andrews Center, the ACLU 
said.

"Robert Ladd's life is full of evidence of his intellectual disability, and he 
doesn't belong on death row," Stull said.

(source: buzzfeed.com)








WYOMING:

Wyo. lawmakers reject bill to abolish death penalty----Wyoming hasn't executed 
a prisoner since 1992 and currently only has 1 prisoner on death row



House Bill 97, which would abolish the death penalty in Wyoming, was defeated 
in the House Judiciary Committee.

The Casper Star Tribune reports that the bill lost 5-4.

Advocates for the bill said the death penalty isn't a useful deterrent against 
crime and that the state shouldn't decides who lives and who dies.

But supporters of capital punishment said that the death penalty can be a 
comfort for families of victims and ensures that no one else can be hurt by the 
perpetrator.

Wyoming hasn't executed a prisoner since 1992 and currently only has one 
prisoner on death row.

(source: Associated Press)