Yesterday, July 26, 2012, attorneys for Marcus Druery filed a request for a stay of execution with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Druery is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, August 1, for the 2002 murder of Skyyler Brown in Brazos County. His attorneys have sought a full competency hearing to determine his mental health status and competency to be executed. Druery has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and suffers from delusions and hallucinations.
Here’s an excerpt from coverage of the case in the Texas Tribune (“Lawyers for Mentally Ill Inmate Seek Stay of Execution,” July 26, 2012):
On Wednesday, the trial judge in Druery’s case, J.D. Langley, also unsealed the inmate’s medical record from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Among the records is a report from a May 2012 examination by Dr. Diane Mosnik, a neuropsychologist who wrote that Druery “suffers from severe, active psychotic condition, meeting criteria for a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia.”
The severity of his mental illness, Dr. Mosnik wrote, prevents Druery from having a understanding that he is going to be executed Aug. 1.
“Although he has a factual awareness that an execution date has been scheduled for the crime for which he was tried, he does not believe that he will be executed because of his illogical, fixed, and firmly held delusional belief system,” she wrote.
The request for a stay follows the denial earlier this week by Langley of Druery’s request for a hearing to determine whether he is competent for execution because of his mental condition.
Additional coverage of the case is available in the Bryan-College Station Eagle (“Stay of execution filed in Druery case,” July 27, 2012) and from KBTX (“Bryan Killer’s Lawyers Seek Stay of Execution From Appeals Court,” July 27, 2012).
Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action for this case, urging letters in support of clemency to be submitted to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry. Take action today!