Texas executes low-IQ convicted killer

Texas executes low-IQ convicted killer

news.smh.com.au

A convicted killer has been executed in Texas, despite pleas from his lawyers he was too mentally impaired to qualify for capital punishment.

Bobby Woods was sentenced to death in 1998 for the sexual assault, abduction and murder of an 11-year-old girl the previous year.

Woods, 44, received lethal injection on Thursday about a half-hour after the US Supreme Court refused to halt his punishment, which was delayed briefly until the high court ruled in his case.

(visit the link for the full news article)

His lawyers had argued Woods was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that previous appeals to spare Woods' life were unsuccessful because of shoddy work by his lawyer at the time.

Tests administered to Woods put his IQ anywhere from the 60s to the 80s. An IQ of 70 is considered the threshold for mental impairment.

Woods' defence team had urged the Supreme Court to consider that he had the literacy level of a seven-year-old and previously had been represented by a lawyer described as incompetent.

The lawyer, Richard Alley, "holds the distinction of being one of only two people ever removed from the Court of Criminal Appeal's list of qualified capital habeas counsel," his new lawyer Maurie Levin said in an appeal filed to the Supreme Court.

"He has been reprimanded by the state bar, and rebuked by and suspended from practice in the federal courts for his egregious missteps and incompetence as an appellate and post-conviction lawyer for those condemned to death."

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said in a statement that Alley "didn't properly introduce evidence of Woods' impaired mental capacity".

So here it is folks, proof that mental and legal incompetancy WILL still lead to the execution of the accused, regardless of the mental state and of the said accused person.

What an utter disgrace. It's the redneck attitude of "Stuff em, execute the bastards anyway" plus a complete ignorance of issues regarding IQ and medical mental status that keeps the system running....the "eye for an eye" system of retribution that seems to only favour those with money or power...

When the hell are people going to wake up, I wonder.

Awaiting the copious amounts of rednecks to come in and try to support the "Kill em anyway" stance..........



*******NOTE******* I have been informed that my use of the term "redneck" is inappropriate for the message I am trying to convey. I apologise for this. I was simply trying to convey an "attitude" rather than a certain set of people.

news.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]

why did it take 11 years for him to be executed?

should be like in iran - 1 appeal , then hang them 6 weeks later.

reply to post by Harlequin


Just the response I would expect from someone with shut eyes and a closed heart.

Good luck with that.

What the man did was wrong and even though legal injection is the correct way to deal with these crimes i think however the judge or jury should of taken a compassionate view and just locked him up untill he dies instead.

However any one who does that to an 11 year old is not going to get much of a compassionate view set for them so he derserved to die but maybe through old age in jail and not leathal injection.

double post
sorry

[edit on 4-12-2009 by thecrow001]

reply to post by thecrow001


I agree that the way to deal with people like this is to let them stay in jail for the rest of their natural lives. Execution CANNOT be reversed, and it is just plain WRONG to execute those that have been deemed mentally incompetant.

Next they'll be executing Steven Hawking because they disagree with his quantum theory.....

reply to post by Kryties

Texas executes low-IQ convicted killer
What an utter disgrace

Which part is a disgrace? That they killed someone, or that they killed a "low IQ" someone?

Let's put it this way...if he had been smarter, would it have been ok to execute him? Are you suggesting that we can only execute smart killers, but dumb ones we shouldn't?

Why?

Awaiting the copious amounts of rednecks to come in
and try to support the "Kill em anyway" stance

How about instead, let's listen to you explain why it's ok to kill smart murderers, but we must keep the dumb ones alive.

reply to post by LordBucket


If you had have taken a moment to check my profile, you would see that I do not support the death penalty AT ALL. I believe it is wrong and a blight on humanity that we still execute people.

That could have been solved quite easily with a quick peruse of my profile....

Originally posted by Kryties
reply to post by Harlequin

 

Just the response I would expect from someone with shut eyes and a closed heart.

Good luck with that.

No,
It is the response you wanted and now you are happy because you have something to lord over others and feel superior about.

You are simply exploiting the death of two other humans to get your holier than thou fix.

reply to post by badgerprints


Nope, but thankyou for attempting to put words into my mouth.

Yes, I expected the redneck response but somewhere, in the back of my mind, I HOPED that people would realise that this is wrong in every concievable way.

But I love how you worded your post, skirting around the fact that you seem to believe executing a mentally incompetant man was actually right in some dark, perverted fashion.....

[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]

reply to post by Kryties


What took so long?
We should kill more dimwits.
The prisons are full of people that will not gain any value. Clear them out. Make room for more hardened criminals who can wait in line for the next wave of lethal injections.

Originally posted by Kryties
reply to post by badgerprints

 

Nope, but thankyou for attempting to put words into my mouth.

Yes, I expected the redneck response but somewhere, in the back of my mind, I HOPED that people would realise that this is wrong in every concievable way.

But I love how you worded your post, skirting around the fact that you seem to believe executing a mentally incompetant man was actually right in some dark, perverted fashion.....

[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]

You are lying.

You wanted and expected the response you got. You are a troll.

I didn't word my post to skirt anything. I told you flat out that you are exploiting the death of others to get your superiority fix.

As far as putting words in your mouth, I did not. I simply called it as I see it. Your statement , however .....

"you seem to believe executing a mentally incompetant man was actually right in some dark, perverted fashion....."

Is exactly what you accused me of.

You are as disgusting as those whom you claim to hate. You use murder and execution to get a fix and to use as a club. Your motives are transparent.

Now,
Go have fun and claim your superiority over all who don't agree with you.

Run along and play.

reply to post by Kryties

If you had have taken a moment to check my profile,

I'm sorry. I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to respond to your thread without first researching you personally.

Awaiting the copious amounts of rednecks to come in

...ahhh, I understand now. You weren't actually posting this looking for rational discussion. You were running a subconscious script, and simply looking for a fight so you can have an excuse to feel rehashed emotions from your bag of previous disappointment.

I apologize. I'll leave immediately.

reply to post by Kryties


and your OP was just the post i expect from soneone that thinks that `im insane` is acceptable excuse for child abuse , rape and murder of teh 11 year old VICTIM


or did you forget that small detail that he abducted , raped and murdered an 11 year old girl?

try t remember that he was captured , tried , convicted and exectuted for his crime of CHILD RAPE and MURDER


the RIGHT choice was made.


or do you think he should be let off with CHILD RAPE then?

Originally posted by badgerprints

You are lying.

Hate to burst your bubble, but I am not.

You are as disgusting as those whom you claim to hate. You use murder and execution to get a fix and to use as a club. Your motives are transparent.

So you are saying that the fact that I see executing mentally incompetant people as being wrong makes me as disgusting as those that do? How so? Just because I'm calling you out on your perverted, hate-filled, vengence suddenly I am as disgusting as you? I think not.

Run along and play.

Just the sort of immature, childish behaviour I would expect from sheer and utter ignorance.



[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]

Originally posted by LordBucket
reply to post by Kryties

 

I'm sorry. I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to respond to your thread without first researching you personally.

Accusing me of only focusing on the "mentally incompetant" as opposed to ALL death penalty cases, was wrong considering a quick 5 second check of my profile would have solved that little dilemma for you.

If you are an advocate of abolishing the Death Penalty, then why are you splitting hairs with me?

[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]

reply to post by Harlequin


Never at any point in time did I allude to the fact that the crime perpetrated was right in any form or fashion.....and I find it absolutely revolting that you would assume I do.

How bloody revolting of you.

[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]

Originally posted by Kryties


So you are saying that the fact that I see executing mentally incompetant people as being wrong makes me as disgusting as those that do?

Let's get down to the crux of it.

Your opinions, or mine , of the right or wrong in this execution aren't even on my radar.

I don't care that you are outraged about this execution because I really don't think you are.

As ar as my opinion on the death penalty for this man, I don't think he should be executed if he is incompetent either.

The problem lies in the fact that you didn't post this to bring to light an unfair execution. You brought this up , along with pointed remarks about rednecks, because you want to pick a fight and at the same time you want the emotional thrill of being right and just.

This justifies your hatred of 'rednecks' apparently.

It's about getting an emotional fix for you. Not about a murder and unjust execution.

You exploit the deaths of an 11 year old and a mentally incompetent murderer so that you get your superiority fix.

That's it.

Originally posted by badgerprints

The problem lies in the fact that you didn't post this to bring to light an unfair execution. You brought this up , along with pointed remarks about rednecks, because you want to pick a fight and at the same time you want the emotional thrill of being right and just.

So bloody what? Yes, I expected a fight from this thread - it's a controversial subject therefore I would be stupid to assume it would fall into the folds of forgottenness.

What you are DEAD wrong about though is the fact that I am gaining some sort of "thrill" from it. Yes, I enjoy pointing out that others have a neanderthal view of punishment - how else can we get them to think twice about the perverted, vengence-based punishment that they seem to love pushing on others? But in terms of "getting my jollies" out of it - thats all in your head mate.

[edit on 4/12/2009 by Kryties]