Death Row Inmate Speaks Exclusively With News2 Houston

John Paul Penry's fate lies in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, and he believes that the justices should save his life.  Penry's case was argued Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court. He told News2Houston that he hopes the appeal and other ones will save his life. "I don't think I deserve the death penalty," Penry said. "I deserve to get some kind of punishment but not death."  The victim's family said that Penry deserves to die. Penry, 44, has spent the last 21 years on death row. Two different juries sentenced him to die for the rape and murder of a girl in 1979.  He said that he stabbed her with a pair of scissors that she had used to try and defend herself.  "I don't remember anything about that," Penry told KPRC. "I can't talk about that. I'm sorry."  His case has attracted international attention because psychologists say that he's mentally retarded.  The U.S. Supreme Court is now reviewing his case because the juries were not instructed that mental retardation and an abusive childhood could be mitigating factors.  "It makes me feel good to know that I stand a good chance of getting off death row," Penry said. Penry maintains that he doesn't understand what's going on and that he's not faking. The victim's family thinks differently. "A retarded person would not be able to play the system the way he's been able to," Danny Moseley, the victim's brother, said. "(There is) no question in my mind he should have been put to death 20 years ago. It was in God's hands then and it still is."  Penry has three chances to have his sentence commuted to life -- the two cases before the Supreme Court, and the Texas Legislature which could ban the execution of the mentally retarded this session