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The Akron Beacon Journal has just posted breaking news from AP, "Ohio judge: Condemned killer not competent to be executed." It's by Thomas J. Sheeran.
An Ohio judge has ruled a condemned killer not mentally competent to be executed for the death of his wife and brother-in-law.
The ruling Friday by Cuyahoga County Judge Stuart Friedman on Abdul Awkal comes just a week after Gov. John Kasich ordered a last-minute reprieve hours before Awkal was set to die.
And:
Awkal’s attorneys had argued during several days of testimony that he is so mentally ill he believes the CIA is orchestrating his execution.
Prior to the ruling the AP had filed, "Judge hears testimony about condemned Ohio killer," also by Sheeran. It's via the Coshocton Tribune.
Two psychiatrists testifying for the state said Thursday that a condemned Ohio inmate is mentally ill, but understands he's facing execution because of his double murder conviction.
"It is our opinion with reasonable medical certainty that Mr. Abdul Awkal currently has the mental capacity to understand the nature of the death penalty and the mental capacity to understand why the death penalty was imposed on him," the psychiatrists said in a report to a judge and detailed in their court testimony.
Drs. Jennifer Piel and Phillip Resnick examined Awkal two days after he had been scheduled to be put to death this past week for killing his estranged wife and brother-in-law in a Cleveland courthouse in 1992. Gov. John Kasich issued a last-minute reprieve to allow a judge to consider whether the 53-year-old is mentally competent for execution.
The judge has heard conflicting testimony on the issue this week. The defense argues Awkal is too psychotic to be executed and says he thinks the CIA is plotting against him. The state said the execution should proceed.
Piel testified that Awkal's delusions of alleged CIA harassment were related to his appeals, not to his understanding of why he's facing execution.
She was one of the final witnesses speaking before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman.
And:
A defense expert, Dr. Pablo Stewart, interviewed Awkal on May 25 and said in an affidavit that Awkal has delusions and is mentally incompetent to be executed because he lacks a rational understanding of why he faces the death sentence.
Awkal was sentenced to death for killing his estranged wife, Latife Awkal, and brother-in-law Mahmoud Abdul-Aziz in January 1992 in a room where the Awkals were to take up divorce and custody issues.
Awkal's mental health has been the subject of court hearings for years.
Earlier coverage of Abdul Awkal's mental illness and the competency question begins at the link.
The Supreme Court established standards to assess whether severely mentally ill inmates are competent to be executed in a 1986 case, Ford v. Wainwright; more via Oyez. Related posts are in the clemency, competency, and mental illness indexes.
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