[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 10


TEXAS----impending execution

Federal Court Denies Stay for Texas Prisoner with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome


Mark Soliz, who is scheduled for execution in Texas on September 10, 2019, was 
denied a stay and an opportunity to present a new argument related to mental 
impairments that his attorney says should exempt him from execution. He had 
sought a stay because he has fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition his attorney 
says is the “‘functional equivalent’ of conditions already recognized as 
disqualifying exemptions to the death penalty,” because his mother’s alcohol 
consumption during her pregnancy impaired his intellectual development. Under 
the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Atkins v. Virginia, people with intellectual 
disabilities cannot be executed. “Expansion of the Supreme Court’s holding in 
Atkins to protect offenders suffering from FASD [fetal alcohol spectrum 
disorder] is a constantly evolving doctrine that merits further consideration,” 
his appeal stated. He also argued that recent changes to the DSM-5, the most 
recent diagnostic manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists to diagnose 
mental illness and developmental disorders, such as intellectual disability, 
mean that “higher IQ scores no longer bar a diagnosis of an intellectual 
disability.” An earlier claim of intellectual disability was rejected because 
Soliz’s IQ score of 75 was slightly above the threshold for a diagnosis of 
intellectual disability. Soliz’s attorney, Seth Kretzer, said the execution 
“should certainly be stayed. … Mr. Soliz is a victim of his mother’s ingestion 
of harmful substances in the womb. Supreme Court doctrine will not permit the 
execution of people who are functionally developmentally impaired.” The U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected his appeal and request for a 
stay on September 9, 2019. Texas prisoner Dexter Johnson successfully obtained 
a stay of execution in August, arguing that his intellectual disability claim 
should be reconsidered in light of the changes to the DSM.

Like many death-row prisoners, Soliz experienced chronic trauma throughout his 
childhood. He witnessed his aunt’s murder and was surrounded by prostitution 
and drugs. Defense attorney Greg Westfall said of Soliz, “That case was 
overwhelmingly sad for everyone involved. The effects of neglect and trauma on 
a developing brain are becoming better known. Basically, Soliz had a monstrous 
childhood and should not be executed. The death penalty is stupid. It fulfills 
none of the promise of closure and is incredibly expensive.” Soliz’s case also 
highlights the excessive costs of death-penalty trials. According to Johnson 
County District Attorney Dale Hanna, “It was our most expensive and longest 
trial in the county’s history. The expense of these type trials is just 
staggering.” County Auditor Kirk Kirkpatrick said the trial, which ended in 
2012, cost $903,544.13, not including the cost of Soliz’s incarceration or 
appeals.

(source: Death Penalty Information Center)