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Texas governor considers recommendation to stop execution of mentally ill killer
By Associated Press
Tuesday, May 18, 2004HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a highly unusual action, recommended Gov. Rick Perry either commute or grant a reprieve to a mentally ill killer scheduled to die for a double slaying.
The panel, in a 5-1 vote Monday, recommended the death sentence of Kelsey Patterson be commuted to life in prison. If the governor declined, the board said Perry should grant Patterson a 120-day reprieve.
Patterson has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and his lethal injection set for Tuesday renewed the legal quandary of whether it's proper to execute someone who is mentally ill when the U.S. Supreme Court says it's unconstitutional to execute someone who is mentally retarded.
The recommendation was ``under review,'' Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
At least three mentally ill prisoners have been executed in Texas since the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that severely mentally retarded inmates should not be executed.
Patterson, 50, was condemned for the shooting deaths of Louis Oates, 63, who owned an oil company in Palestine, and Oates' secretary, Dorthy Harris, 41, almost a dozen years ago.
Patterson's lawyer, J. Gary Hart called the recommendation encouraging. But he said he would continue to appeal to the courts to halt the punishment, which would be the ninth execution in Texas this year.
``I can't quit what I'm doing in terms of the legal maneuvering because I don't know what Governor Perry will do,'' he said. ``I can't just assume that he'll follow the recommendation.''
State attorneys argued Patterson understood why he was on death row and knew he was facing execution. ``That satisfies the requirements of the Supreme Court and also Texas law,'' said Doug Lowe, the county district attorney.
No one, including Patterson, disputed that he killed two people.
Evidence showed he left his home in Palestine, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas, shot Oates in the head with a .38-caliber pistol and then shot Harris when she began screaming.
Then he went home, took off his clothes and was arrested walking on the street.
Throughout his trial, outbursts earned him repeated expulsions from the courtroom. He frequently talked about ``remote control devices'' and ``implants'' that controlled him.
In 1980 in Dallas and in 1983 in Palestine, Patterson was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges related to nonfatal shootings. While on death row and as his execution date neared, he refused to consult with his lawyer and has written jabbering letters to the courts.
( © Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )
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