An appeals court has found John Battaglia is mentally fit to be executed for killing his daughters, a punishment the Dallas man has twice tried to postpone.
Battaglia made national headlines in 2001 when he shot his daughters, 9-year-old Faith and 6-year-old Liberty, at his Deep Ellum loft while their mother listened on the phone.
"No, Daddy! Don't do it!" Faith pleaded, seconds before her father pulled the trigger in an act of revenge against his ex-wife.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld State District Judge Robert Burns' ruling that Battaglia is competent, exhausting the condemned man's final legal option at the state level.
He was first scheduled for execution in March 2016 but was granted a stay after he sought new legal counsel to help appeal his sentence.
His execution was rescheduled for December 2016 after a state district judge found Battaglia mentally fit to be put to death. But the Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a stay to evaluate his competency.
The Dallas County trial court can set a new execution date.
Court records show that Battaglia is "convinced that his trial and conviction were a sham" and that his death sentence is part of a conspiracy involving "the KKK, child molesters and homosexual lawyers."
A mental health expert testified during a competency hearing in November that Battaglia was likely faking or exaggerating his delusions in order to save his life.
The appeals court affirmed that assessment and supported the trial court's ruling of competence.
"There is support in the record that Battaglia is malingering," Justice Bert Richardson wrote in the appeals court finding.
Justice Elsa Alcala was the lone dissenting voice. She wrote in her dissent that the case should be sent back to the trial court for further clarity.
A defendant should not be executed when he "lacks a rational understanding of the reason for his execution due to delusions stemming from a severe mental illness," Alcala wrote.
