![]() ![]() Similar bills failed to become law in 20. The Texas Legislature is set to debate a bill that would make people with severe mental illness ineligible for the death penalty. Our legal system does the best it can in that difficult situation,” said Brown, who is now in private practice in Sherman. ![]() They believe a crime with those facts demands death. “For many people I hear from, it does not matter whether he understands that he is being punished or not. Joe Brown, the former Grayson County district attorney who led the prosecution, said this has been a difficult case for everyone involved. Supreme Court last year declined to hear an appeal on this issue.Īshmore said the standard to determine if someone is competent to be executed is not “whether he is mentally ill or has hallucinations” but figuring out if an inmate understands why he is being put to death or that his execution is imminent. Thomas is Black and his estranged wife was white. Thomas’ attorneys have said his trial was also problematic because jurors who said they opposed interracial marriage were allowed to serve. “He is one of the most mentally ill prisoners in Texas history,” Levin said. His attorneys say prison records show that as recently as December, Thomas “still hallucinate(s) constantly,” including “voices ‘from a spiritual prison’ and seeking ‘angels.’” A judge would ultimately decide the issue. Thomas’ attorneys will have to file a court motion asking that his competency be reviewed. However, it has ruled that a person must be competent to be executed. The Supreme Court has prohibited the death penalty for the intellectually disabled, but not for people with serious mental illness. Abbott has granted clemency to only one death row inmate since taking office in 2015. Kerye Ashmore, with the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case.Ī spokeswoman for Abbott did not respond to an email sent Friday seeking comment. We are not going to ignore that,” said J. ![]() “A jury has spoken about what justice should be in this case. Twice since the killings, he has gouged out his eyes, eating one of them to ensure that the government could not hear his thoughts, his attorneys said. The heavily medicated Thomas, now 39, is also blind. ![]() He has spent the last 15 years at a unit south of Houston for the state’s most mentally ill prisoners. Prosecutors argued that he knew his conduct was wrong and exacerbated his mental condition with drug use. Thomas was sentenced to death for killing the little girl after jurors rejected his insanity defense. He later told police God had instructed him to commit the killings and that he believed all three were demons. He fatally stabbed his estranged wife Laura Christine Boren, 20, their 4-year-old son Andre Lee and her 13-month-old daughter Leyha Marie Hughes, cutting out the hearts of the two children. His lawyers say in March 2004, when he was 21, Thomas’ mental illness erupted in a burst of horrific violence in his hometown of Sherman, Texas. His family - beset by a long history of mental illness, addiction and poverty - was unable to help. Thomas’ psychosis, filled with religious delusions and hallucinations, became worse as he grew older. HOUSTON (AP) - Plagued by mental illness, Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas started hearing voices when he was 9 years old and first attempted suicide when he was 10, his attorneys say. ![]()
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