Schizophrenic killer gets 60-day reprieve
Texas' handling of mentally ill again in spotlight
By JANET ELLIOTT
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Feb. 5, 2004

AUSTIN -- A federal judge on Wednesday granted an execution stay for a schizophrenic murderer, reopening the debate over how Texas treats mentally ill violent offenders.

Scott Panetti was granted a 60-day stay a day before he was to be executed for the 1992 shooting deaths of his estranged wife's parents.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks said he granted the stay to allow time for the state trial court to determine whether Panetti is competent to be executed.

Mental health advocates and death penalty opponents argue that Panetti, 45, should not be executed because he is mentally ill and did not receive a fair trial.

Panetti was allowed to defend himself during a circus-like trial in 1995 during which he dressed in a cowboy costume and tried to subpoena Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy as witnesses.

In the decade leading up to the slayings, he had been hospitalized for mental health problems 14 times.

A jury, however, found him competent to stand trial. Prosecutors did not dispute his history of mental illness but argued he was sane at the time of the murders.

While a number of people involved in the trial, including Panetti's ex-wife, agree it was a travesty, the case now turns on Panetti's current state of mind.

The U.S. Supreme Court standard for executing the mentally ill requires the defendant to understand that he is going to die for the crime for which he was convicted.

A psychologist and a law professor who talked with Panetti earlier this week said he was delusional.

Michael Gross, the San Antonio lawyer who represents Panetti, said he is "extremely relieved" that Sparks granted the stay. He said Panetti's parents and siblings, who traveled from Wisconsin to visit Panetti this week, also are pleased.

"Now we're just kind of waiting with bated breath to see what the trial judge does with the motion," said Gross. "We hope he will appoint counsel and appoint experts and grant a hearing."

Sparks' order does not require the trial judge, state District Judge Stephen Ables of Gillespie County, to schedule a hearing, but defense attorneys expect he will.

In December, Ables denied a motion to determine whether Panetti is competent to be executed. Gross filed a new motion on Wednesday and included the affidavits that he presented to Sparks.

Ables' staff said Wednesday the judge would not comment on the case. Gillespie County District Attorney E. Bruce Curry did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Fredericksburg Police Chief Paul Oestreich said just as a jury found Panetti competent to stand trial, this latest ruling is "part of the judicial process."

"He'll have his day in court again, and that's OK," said Oestreich. "My personal opinions don't matter."

In 30 years, there have been only four homicides in Fredericksburg, so the double homicide in 1992 shocked the community.

Panetti was convicted of fatally shooting Joe Alvarado, 55, and his wife, Amanda, 56, at their home during the kidnapping of Panetti's estranged wife, Sonja, and their 3-year-old daughter. Sonja Alvarado witnessed the slayings and escaped death when Panetti's gun jammed.

Alvarado, who divorced Panetti in 1993, said Wednesday that she and her daughter, now 15, won't feel safe until he is executed.

"My life has been on hold 11 1/2 years," she said.

In affidavits attached to the federal and state court petitions filed by Gross, psychologist Mark Cunningham and University of Houston law professor David Dow described meeting with Panetti on Tuesday. They observed that he is delusional and misunderstands whether and why he will be executed.

"At least six times during the interview, when asked why he was going to be executed, Mr. Panetti responded that evil forces wanted to stop him from preaching the Gospels of Jesus Christ," Dow stated in his affidavit.

Dow added that in more than 15 years of representing death row inmates, he had never met anyone "as obviously and deeply mentally disturbed."

Cunningham found that Panetti's thought processes are "markedly disorganized, so that it is impossible for him to maintain a linear and logical train of thought." He diagnosed Panetti as "actively psychotic" and suffering from a schizophrenic disorder.

Sonja Alvarado said she is extremely bitter about the trial and Ables' decision to allow Panetti to represent himself. Alvarado said District Attorney Bruce Curry never objected as Panetti cross-examined her about the couple's marriage for hours.
"I was the one tortured on the stand. That was not right," she said.