Death row case goes to Supreme Court
Source: Agencies |
October 24, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A convicted mass killer was scheduled for execution in Florida late yesterday after an appeals court lifted a last-minute stay that was based on his paranoid schizophrenia. His attorneys sought a last-minute reprieve from the US Supreme Court.
John Ferguson, 64, has been on death row for 34 years.
Ferguson's lawyers argued to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals that he is mentally ill and therefore the Constitution prohibits the state from executing him.
Ferguson was convicted of killing eight people in Florida in 1977 and 1978, including a teenage couple.
The Florida Supreme Court this month upheld a lower court ruling based on testimony by a panel of psychiatrists appointed by Governor Rick Scott that Ferguson is legally competent to be executed.
The state justices wrote that "Ferguson understands what is taking place and why."
Ferguson's lawyers contend an inmate's awareness of his execution as the state's rationale for putting him to death is not enough. They say Ferguson suffers from delusions that he's the "prince of God."
John Ferguson, 64, has been on death row for 34 years.
Ferguson's lawyers argued to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals that he is mentally ill and therefore the Constitution prohibits the state from executing him.
Ferguson was convicted of killing eight people in Florida in 1977 and 1978, including a teenage couple.
The Florida Supreme Court this month upheld a lower court ruling based on testimony by a panel of psychiatrists appointed by Governor Rick Scott that Ferguson is legally competent to be executed.
The state justices wrote that "Ferguson understands what is taking place and why."
Ferguson's lawyers contend an inmate's awareness of his execution as the state's rationale for putting him to death is not enough. They say Ferguson suffers from delusions that he's the "prince of God."
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