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Texas loses appeal in high-profile murder

By GINA HOLLAND,

WASHINGTON  - The Supreme Court refused Monday to reinstate the death sentence of Johnny Paul Penry, a Texas inmate who has twice won reprieves from the justices.

Penry has been one of the most high-profile death row cases at the high court over the past two decades, stirring national debate over whether mentally retarded inmates should be executed.

After losing the appeal, Texas will likely again ask a jury to sentence Penry to die for the 1979 stabbing death of a 22-year-old woman. It will be Penry's fourth sentencing trial.

Pamela Moseley Carpenter identified him as her killer as she lay dying from her wounds. She was the sister of former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley.

Penry confessed to breaking into her home and beating, raping and stabbing her with scissors. His lawyers contend he has the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear Penry's case in 1988 and the following year overturned his death sentence on a 5-4 vote. In that same decision, justices clashed over whether mentally retarded people can be executed, although it was more than a decade later before they took the issue up again and barred capital punishment for retarded killers.

Penry was resentenced to death and in 2001 the Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote voided that death sentence too. Both times the high court reasoned the jury was not allowed to properly weigh Penry's alleged retardation.

A new trial in 2002 also led to a death sentence, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Penry's case back for another punishment hearing last year. The state court ruled 5-4 that improper jury instructions prevented the jurors from considering the full scope of his claims of retardation.

Texas appealed that decision to the high court.

The case is Texas v. Penry, 05-1167.

http://www.fresnobee.com/24hour/nation/story/3307943p-12187035c.html

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Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - Press Release

TEXAS LOSES AGAIN IN SEEKING DEATH PENALTY FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED The Supreme Court has again refused to reinstate the death sentence of John Paul Penry. It was Penry�s case that motivated the Supreme Court to address the issue of executing the mentally retarded, eventually barring capital punishment for the mentally retarded. Despite this ruling Texas is still determined to execute Penry and questions his mental retardation. The State Legislature and Governor Perry have not passed legislation to determine a proper procedure for determining mental retardation exceptions in death penalty cases. The State of Texas proceeds like a stubborn child, refusing to accept the determination of the Supreme Court and determined to execute at all costs. If this is allowed to continue, more and more cases of defendants with mental retardation will have their sentences overturned and appealed. The death penalty should not be an option in cases of people with mental retardation.

In an Associated Press article by Gina Holland, it states, �After losing the appeal, Texas will likely again ask a jury to sentence Penry to die for the 1979 stabbing death of a 22 year old woman. It will be Penry�s fourth sentencing trial.� How many rulings need to be overturned before Texas accepts that Penry, a mentally retarded man, with the reasoning capacity of a 7 year old needs to not be executed. Justice and the victim�s family are not being served when rulings are continually being overturned and the cost of this case for Texans skyrockets with each new trial. Why are we pouring money into the capital punishment system instead of the Victim�s Compensation Fund? Why are we pouring money into the death penalty instead of services for the mentally retarded and the mentally ill?

Life without parole is considerably cheaper than the capital punishment process. Society is protected by life without parole, now available as a sentencing option in Texas as of September 2005. The trials and appeals are a very important part of the death penalty process to protect the innocent, but victims are forced to relive the crime every time a new trial and appeal occurs. Texas does not need to continue to seek the death penalty for Johnny Penry. A long prison sentence will protect society, save money and allow the family of the victim to get on with their lives rather than endure another trial and further appeals.

Vicki McCuistion is the program coordinator for the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Texas case headed to fourth trial

By MICHAEL GRACZYK

HOUSTON - One of the longest and most contentious death penalty cases in Texas is heading back for yet another trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court, acting Monday on an appeal from the Texas Attorney General's Office, refused to reinstate the death sentence of Johnny Paul Penry, clearing the way for another jury to consider punishment for a fourth time. Penry was convicted of raping and fatally stabbing a woman at her home in Livingston in 1979.

Penry turned 50 last month and has spent more than half of his life on death row for the slaying of 22-year-old Pamela Moseley Carpenter. He confessed to attacking the woman and stabbing her with scissors, but his attorneys have contended Penry, who says he believes in Santa Claus, has the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old.

While psychological tests have put Penry's IQ between 50 and 60, at least five juries have found Penry to be legally competent to stand trial or have rejected defenses based on mental retardation. The high court in 2002 ruled mentally retarded people, generally considered having an IQ below 70, may not be executed.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last October, in a 5-4 ruling, sent Penry's death sentence back for another punishment hearing, citing what judges said were improper instructions that prevented jurors from considering the full scope of Penry's retardation claims. It was that decision the Attorney General's Office appealed to the high court.

"That's good news for us," said John Wright of Huntsville, who has been one of Penry's attorneys since the beginning of his case. "We're looking at another trial - if we can't settle it. And I would think by now we could."

"There have been so many disappointments in regard to this case, you kind of become conditioned to adversity," said William Lee Hon, the Polk County assistant prosecutor who has been handling the case for more than two decades. "So you take these blows as they come, and you do the best you can."

Hon said he was anticipating Penry's attorneys would suggest an agreement to a sentence less than death to avoid another trial but said there were "a whole lot of considerations to look at" before deciding for a fourth time to seek a death sentence.

"The parole eligibility is huge and he might very well be parole eligible," Hon said. "Is there any guarantee to keep him in prison if we choose to seek a life sentence? I don't know. That's one of the big questions to resolve in the process."

He also said the relatives of the victim, whose brother is former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley, would be consulted.

Penry was on parole about three months after serving two years of a five-year rape conviction when he was arrested for the 1979 attack on Carpenter, who lived long enough to identify him as her assailant.

He was arrested later that day and has been in custody since. He's among the longest-serving of the 399 inmates on death row in Texas.

"Why don't they just lock me up and throw away the key," Penry told The Associated Press in 2001. "That's all I want."

In 2000, he got within about three hours of execution when the justices halted the punishment.

The Supreme Court first agreed to hear Penry's case in 1988 and the following year overturned his death sentence on 5-4 vote. In that same decision, justices clashed over whether mentally retarded people can be executed. More than a decade later, in a North Carolina case, justices took the issue up again and barred capital punishment for retarded killers.

Penry was resentenced to death, and in 2001 the Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote voided that death sentence, too. Both times the high court reasoned the jury was not allowed to properly weigh Penry's alleged retardation.

A new trial in 2002 led to the death sentence that was reversed last year by the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Hon said depending on the court's schedule, it was possible a new punishment trial could be held by late this year. Wright speculated a trial wasn't likely until next year.

High court sends Penry case back for trial

By MICHAEL GRACZYK

HOUSTON - One of the longest and most contentious death penalty cases in Texas is heading back for yet another trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court, acting Monday on an appeal from the Texas attorney general�s office, declined to reinstate the death sentence of Johnny Paul Penry, clearing the way for another jury to consider punishment for a fourth time. Penry was convicted of raping and fatally stabbing a woman at her Livingston home in 1979.

Penry turned 50 last month and has spent more than half of his life on Death Row for killing 22-year-old Pamela Moseley Carpenter. He confessed to attacking her and stabbing her with scissors, but his attorneys have said Penry, who says he believes in Santa Claus, has the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old.

While psychological tests have put Penry�s IQ between 50 and 60, at least five juries have found Penry legally competent to stand trial or have rejected defenses based on mental retardation. The high court in 2002 ruled that mentally retarded people, generally considered to be those with an IQ below 70, may not be executed.

In a 5-4 ruling in October, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Penry�s death sentence back for another punishment hearing, citing what judges called improper instructions that prevented jurors from considering the full scope of Penry�s retardation claims. The attorney general�s office appealed that decision to the high court.

�That�s good news for us,� said John Wright of Huntsville, one of Penry�s lawyers since the beginning of his case. �We�re looking at another trial - if we can�t settle it. And I would think by now we could.�

William Lee Hon, a Polk County assistant prosecutor who has been handling the case for more than two decades, said: �There have been so many disappointments in regard to this case, you kind of become conditioned to adversity. So you take these blows as they come, and you do the best you can.�

Hon said that he expects that Penry�s lawyers will suggest an agreement to a sentence less than death to avoid another trial but that there are �a whole lot of considerations to look at� before deciding for a fourth time to seek a death sentence.

�The parole eligibility is huge, and he might very well be parole eligible,� Hon said. �Is there any guarantee to keep him in prison if we choose to seek a life sentence? I don�t know. That�s one of the big questions to resolve in the process.�

He also said the relatives of the victim, whose brother is former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley, will be consulted.

Penry was on parole about three months after serving two years of a five-year rape conviction when he was arrested in the attack on Carpenter, who lived long enough to identify him as her assailant.

He was arrested later that day and has been in custody since. He�s among the longest-serving of the 399 inmates on Texas� Death Row.

�Why don�t they just lock me up and throw away the key?� Penry told The Associated Press in 2001. �That�s all I want.�

In 2000, he got within about three hours of execution when the justices halted the punishment.

Supreme Court - Penry

Texas' appeal refused

On Monday, the justices also refused to hear Texas' appeal in the death sentence case of inmate Johnny Paul Penry, whose issues before the high court for the past 20 years have spurred a national fight about whether mentally retarded inmates should be executed.

The high court in 2002 used another case to ban such executions but left it up to individual states to determine what constitutes mental retardation.

In October, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new punishment hearing for Penry, saying improper instructions prevented a jury from weighing all of Penry's retardation claims. Texas has repeatedly sought the death penalty against Penry and is expected to do so again in what would be his 4th sentencing trial.

Kennedy acknowledged that the ruling in the lethal injection case is likely to spawn more last-minute appeals as inmates increasingly argue that the three-drug cocktail used in the executions causes an unnecessarily painful death.

But Kennedy said executions should not be delayed needlessly, and he emphasized that the mere act of filing an appeal does not mean the inmates are automatically entitled to a stay of their executions.

DNA testing reviewed

In the DNA case, the justices weighed in on a nationwide debate on how courts should deal with technological advances in testing crime-scene evidence.

Kennedy said that House, the Tennessee inmate, had raised three pieces of mitigating evidence: DNA testing on 20-year-old murder-scene evidence showed that semen on the victim belonged to the victim's husband, not House. Drops of the victim's blood on House's jeans could have been the result of the spilling of a blood sample during the victim's autopsy. "This is the rare case where had the jury heard all the conflicting testimony it is more likely than not" that they would have had doubts about House's guilt, Kennedy wrote.

David Dow, a death penalty expert at the University of Houston Law Center, said neither of the cases would have a significant impact in Texas.

The lethal injection decision was expected, Dow said, because the court decided in 2004 that an Alabama inmate could file a last-minute claim that his execution by injection would be unconstitutionally cruel because he had damaged veins.

Unlike in Florida, Dow said, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles Texas death penalty appeals, already allowed such last-minute appeals.

Star-Telegram.com

4th jury may decide killer's punishment

By MICHAEL GRACZYK

HOUSTON -- One of the longest and most contentious death penalty cases in Texas is heading back for yet another trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court, acting Monday on an appeal from the Texas attorney general's office, declined to reinstate the death sentence of Johnny Paul Penry, clearing the way for another jury to consider punishment for a fourth time. Penry was convicted of raping and fatally stabbing a woman at her Livingston home in 1979.

Penry turned 50 last month and has spent more than half of his life on Death Row for killing 22-year-old Pamela Moseley Carpenter. He confessed to attacking her and stabbing her with scissors, but his attorneys have said Penry, who says he believes in Santa Claus, has the reasoning capacity of a 7-year-old.

While psychological tests have put Penry's IQ between 50 and 60, at least five juries have found Penry legally competent to stand trial or have rejected defenses based on mental retardation. The high court in 2002 ruled that mentally retarded people, generally considered to be those with an IQ below 70, may not be executed.

In a 5-4 ruling in October, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Penry's death sentence back for another punishment hearing, citing what judges called improper instructions that prevented jurors from considering the full scope of Penry's retardation claims. The attorney general's office appealed that decision to the high court.

"That's good news for us," said John Wright of Huntsville, one of Penry's lawyers since the beginning of his case. "We're looking at another trial -- if we can't settle it. And I would think by now we could."

William Lee Hon, a Polk County assistant prosecutor who has been handling the case for more than two decades, said: "There have been so many disappointments in regard to this case, you kind of become conditioned to adversity. So you take these blows as they come, and you do the best you can."

Hon said that he expects that Penry's lawyers will suggest an agreement to a sentence less than death to avoid another trial but that there are "a whole lot of considerations to look at" before deciding for a fourth time to seek a death sentence.

He also said the relatives of the victim, whose brother is former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley, will be consulted.

Penry was on parole about three months after serving two years of a five-year rape conviction when he was arrested in the attack on Carpenter, who lived long enough to identify him as her assailant.

He was arrested later that day and has been in custody since.

He's among the longest-serving of the 399 inmates on Texas' Death Row.