"Court Stays Execution of Mentally Ill Inmate," is Brandi Grissom's post at the Texas Tribune. It's also available via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stayed this week’s scheduled execution of Steven Staley, a severely mentally ill inmate who was convicted of a 1989 robbery and murder at a Fort Worth Steak and Ale restaurant.
The stay came after defense lawyers argued that the state was violating Staley's constitutional rights by forcing him to take powerful anti-psychotic drugs so that he could be considered mentally competent for execution. On the heels of the stay, John Stickels, a lawyer for Staley, said that a psychologist on Monday spent three hours with the inmate at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston and had concluded that after two weeks without his medication he was no longer competent.
"He is delusional again. He believes there is a big conspiracy orchestrated by the state and that everybody, everybody, is part of the conspiracy," Stickels said. "He believes that he was wrongfully convicted because of the conspiracy."
The execution was stayed until the Court of Criminal Appeals takes further action.
Staley’s case presents a unique question for the courts. His lawyers argue that it is unethical and unconstitutional for the state to forcibly medicate Staley so that he can be executed. Prosecutors in Tarrant County, though, argue that Staley’s treatment is in his “best medical interests,” not solely so that he can be executed, and that his condition has improved over the years.
"Texas inmate set to die Wednesday gets reprieve," is the AP filing by Michael Graczyk. It's via the Austin American-Statesman.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stopped this week's scheduled execution of a convicted killer whose mental health had become an issue in his appeals.
The state's highest criminal court gave a reprieve to Steven Staley, 49, who was set for lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for the 1989 shooting death of a Fort Worth restaurant manager during a botched robbery.
"This is great," said Staley's attorney, John Stickels. "I'm very happy."
Prosecutors contended Staley was competent for execution, but Stickels in his appeal to the court said that was accomplished only because a state judge in Fort Worth improperly ordered Staley be given drugs to make him competent so the state of Texas could kill him.
The appeals court spent much of the ruling's three pages recounting Staley's case in the courts and only in a final paragraph specifically addressed the appeal, saying the court had determined the execution should be halted "pending further order by this court."
It gave no reason. Justice Lawrence Meyers dissented from his eight colleagues but issued no dissenting opinion.
"I don't know what's next," Stickels said. "It just orders the execution stayed and doesn't order anything else. I'm not going to do anything until they tell me."
And:
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled forcible medication is appropriate if it's likely to make the condemned inmate competent, if the side effects wouldn't be worse than the benefits and if it's in the prisoner's best medical interests. The Supreme Court hasn't addressed the issue.
Earlier coverage of Steven Staley's case begins at the link.
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