English

La Corte suprema degli Stati Uniti ha deciso di esaminare
 il caso di Johnny Paul Penry, condannato a morte dallo Stato del Texas,
 nonostante sia un ritardato mentale. 

La Corte, lo scorso 16 novembre, aveva bloccato in extremis l'esecuzione di Penry. Secondo gli avvocati, Penry, 44 anni, ha l'intelligenza di un bambino di sette, ma per l'accusa egli e' ignorante, non minorato, e sta abilmente ingannando tutti. I legali affermano che la sua minorazione non fu tenuta in necessaria considerazione all'epoca del processo, e che questo fu una violazione dei suoi diritti. L'uomo fu condannato a morte per l'omicidio di Pamela Moseley Carpenter. La Corte suprema annullo' quella condanna nel 1989, affermando che la giuria non era stata informata dei suoi problemi mentali, pur stabilendo che si possono mandare a morte assassini con minorazioni mentali. Penry fu riprocessato nel 1990, e nuovamente condannato a morte. Un tribunale federale ha confermato quella condanna. Nell'appello rivolto alla Corte suprema, gli avvocati notano che la giuria non fu correttamente informata non solo dei problemi mentali ma anche dei ''terrificanti'' abusi subiti dalla madre quando era piccolo. La Corte non dovrebbe prendere una decisione prima di diversi mesi, forse nel luglio prossimo. Fino ad allora, Penry restera'  nel braccio della morte. (ANSA)

Court To Hear Death Penalty Appeal

By LAURIE ASSEO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal by a condemned killer from Texas whose lawyers say he is mentally retarded and has the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old.

The court said it will use the case of Johnny Paul Penry to clarify how much opportunity jurors in death-penalty cases must have to consider the defendant's mental capacity.

Penry's lawyers also say prosecutors were improperly allowed to use a psychiatric exam report in violation of his right not to testify against himself.

On Nov. 16, the justices blocked Penry's execution just hours before he was to be put to death. The execution will remain on hold until the justices issue a ruling, expected by July.

A group of Texas state senators had asked Gov. George W. Bush (news - web sites), the Republican presidential candidate to grant Penry a 30-day reprieve, an authority Bush has invoked only once in his nearly six years in office. Before the Supreme Court blocked Penry's execution, the governor's spokesman had said Bush would not act until all court appeals had been completed.

Penry's lawyers describe him as having an IQ of 50 to 60 and the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old.

However, prosecutors say he is ignorant, not retarded. Texas Attorney General John Cornyn said Penry is ``a schemer, a planner and can be purposefully deceptive.''

Penry was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Pamela Moseley Carpenter in Livingston, Texas, in 1979. Carpenter was stabbed repeatedly in the chest with a pair of scissors she had been using to make Halloween decorations.

The Supreme Court threw out Penry's conviction in 1989, ruling that his rights were violated because the sentencing jury was not properly allowed to take his mental capacity into account. But the justices also decided the Constitution allows the execution of mentally retarded killers.

Penry was retried, convicted and sentenced to death in 1990. His lawyers appealed, saying the jury again was not given enough chance to consider his mental capacity.

The jury had been told to consider mitigating circumstances in deciding whether Penry's conduct was deliberate, whether he was a continuing threat to society and whether his actions were provoked by the victim.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) upheld Penry's conviction and death sentence last June.

In the appeal acted on Monday, Penry's lawyers said the jury instruction unfairly limited jurors' consideration of his mental capacity and the fact that he suffered ``horrific'' abuse by his mother when he was a child.

His lawyers also said prosecutors wrongly used a report on a 1977 psychiatric exam of Penry while he was being held on a rape charge. The doctor said he would be a danger if released, but Penry's lawyers said he was not warned his words could be used against him.

Prosecutors said the jury had ample chance to consider Penry's mental capacity, and that prosecutors could use the exam results to rebut psychological evidence offered by Penry's lawyers.

The case is Penry v. Johnson, 00-6677.

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Case of Texas Death-Row Inmate Goes to Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) announced on Monday it would hear an appeal by a Texas death-row inmate and a convicted murderer said to be so mentally retarded he still believes in Santa Claus.

The high court agreed to use the case of Johnny Paul Penry to clarify how much opportunity jurors in death penalty cases must have to consider the defendant's mental capacity.

The Supreme Court, on Nov. 16, gave Penry, who was convicted in the 1979 rape and murder of Pamela Carpenter, 22, in the east Texas town of Livingston, a last-minute reprieve so it could consider whether to hear his appeal.

Penry is supposed to have an IQ between 50 and 63, which is below the 70 required for normal intelligence, and has said he still believes in Santa Claus, according to his lawyers.

Prosecutors have argued that Penry, 44, who confessed to the crime, is a sociopath pretending to be retarded.

He was convicted of killing Carpenter, the sister of former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley, with her own pair of scissors after forcing his way into her home and raping her. He was out on probation for a 1977 rape at the time.

Groups opposed to the death penalty, such as Amnesty International, took up Penry's cause, saying those who are retarded should not be executed because they are not fully responsible for their actions.

In appealing to the Supreme Court, Penry's lawyers argued the jury that sentenced him to death was not properly instructed to consider his mental capacity and did not consider the ``horrific'' abuse he suffered from his mother as a child.

Penry's lawyers said the jury was given confusing instructions by the judge on how to assess evidence that might have mitigated a death sentence.

It will be the second time the Supreme Court will decide Penry's case.

In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that juries in capital murder trials must be allowed to weigh evidence of mental retardation. It also ruled that executing the mentally retarded does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The high court, in its 1989 decision, threw out Penry's conviction and ordered a new trial. Penry then was retried, convicted and again sentenced to death in 1990.

The justices will hear arguments in Penry's latest appeal next year, with a decision due by the end of June.