The Citizens Voice, out of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, has this update on the competency hearing of death row inmate George Banks ("Final expert says Banks incompetent for execution," August 16, 2008):
"The psychological disorders that have turned mass murderer George Banks into a rambling paranoid have not improved since before he was scheduled to be executed in December 2004, psychiatrist Richard G. Dudley Jr. said Friday during the second day of testimony in Banks’ competency hearing.
Dudley, the third and final psychological expert called by Banks’ attorneys, said the killer’s psychosis and vast delusions have made him incompetent to be executed, to petition for clemency or assist his attorneys.
Banks, 66, went on a shooting spree in September 1982 that left 13 people dead, including four girlfriends, who ranged in age from 23 to 29, five of his children, ages 1 to 5, and four others. He has been on death row since June 1983.
Banks believes, 'Jesus from Washington, D.C.' vacated his sentence, but a conspiracy has kept him incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution here, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, until he renounces God, Dudley said.
'The central theme of the delusions is that Jesus, (or) God has pardoned him and therefore there is no case against him,' Dudley said, echoing the testimony of the two defense experts who appeared Thursday — psychiatrist John O’Brien and forensic psychologist Jethro Toomer.
Dudley said Banks believes the state Department of Corrections would go to elaborate measures to push him to renounce his religious beliefs, including subjecting him to a simulated execution.
'He said Jesus has jurisdiction over his life, not man, not the courts,' Dudley said.
Those beliefs, combined with a rambling, unfocused and illogical thought process, make it impossible for Banks to comprehend the meaning and totality of his death sentence, Dudley said.
'As a result of this delusional system, he does not appreciate his death sentence,' Dudley said. 'The content of his delusions are directly related to his understanding of the crime and his punishment.'
Dudley evaluated Banks prior to his 2004 execution, which was stayed by a last-minute ruling from the state Supreme Court, and in April, in preparation for the competency hearing.
Dudley said Banks’ behavior during the April meeting prevented him from asking questions designed to gauge Banks’ understanding of his circumstances and possible execution.
'He blurted out various things,' Dudley said. 'I just stood there and listened to him.'
Jennifer Buck, an attorney with the state Attorney General’s Office, questioned how Dudley could determine that Banks is incompetent to face death without asking about the death penalty.
'You didn’t need to ask him?' Buck asked.
'Not again, no,' Dudley said.
'You only needed to ask him that once?'
'It would have been nice to ask him,' Dudley said. 'If he had been cooperative.'
The prosecution’s psychological experts, psychiatrists Timothy J. Michals and Stephen Mechanick, are scheduled to testify Monday.
Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan, who has presided over recent proceedings in the case, prevented Michals from testifying at a competency hearing in February 2006 after Banks’ attorneys said the psychiatrist met with Banks without their knowledge.
Conahan deemed Banks incompetent to be executed, but that decision was overturned on appeal by the state Supreme Court because the prosecution case had been compromised by the exclusion of Michals and the use of another expert, psychiatrist Michael Welner, who had little time to prepare.
In a September 2005 report, Michals said Banks had the competency to be executed.
'It is my opinion that although Mr. Banks has a psychotic disorder,' Michals said. 'He had sufficient mental capacity to understand that he has been tried, convicted and sentenced to death as a result of the death of 13 people.'
***
Read more about the Banks case here.
Showing posts with label Pennsylvania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pennsylvania. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Is Mentally Ill Inmate Competent to be Executed?
Here's an article from The Scranton Times-Tribune regarding Pennsylvania death row inmate George Banks ("Banks' mental capacity will be at issue at hearing," August 11, 2008), who suffers from severe mental illness. A hearing will take place later this week to determine whether Banks should be declared incompetent to be executed. He was found incompetent in 2006, but the state Supreme Court overruled the judge's decision.
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that two death row inmates with mental illness can be forcibly medicated in order to render them competent to continue their appeals and face execution.
A full timeline of the case accompanies the article, excerpted below:
"George Banks sits in his cell at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford for days at a time, alone with the fantasies and delusions that have played in his psyche since before the 1982 killing spree that left 13 people dead in Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Township, including five of his own children.
He often remains behind, locked away in his own world, during the hourlong period each day when he and the other inmates in the prison’s death row unit are permitted to leave the solitary confinement of their cells for exercise and recreation.
Banks, 66, has lived at SCI-Graterford, a maximum-security facility in Montgomery County, about 30 miles west of Philadelphia, since 1985.
A competency hearing scheduled to begin Thursday at the prison could determine whether he dies there.
'You’ve got a man who is severely mentally ill, there’s no dispute on that,' Banks’ attorney, Luzerne County public defender Al Flora Jr., said. 'The only issue is whether he dies in prison as a result of lethal injection or whether he dies in prison as the result of a natural life.'
Banks has lived in the shadow of death since June 1983, when a jury convicted him of the murders of at least four girlfriends, his five children, ages 1 to 5, and four others, and then imposed a capital sentence.
He has survived on the strength of the appeals filed on his behalf in state and federal courts, and on the weakness of his own mental state.
Two years ago, Banks claimed God had granted him clemency and the U.S. government and the Islamic faith were conspiring against him.
In 2004, he claimed he was fighting a 'private war' with former President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern with whom Mr. Clinton had a sexual relationship.
Since his arrest in September 1982, Mr. Banks has attempted suicide at least four times and has gone on prolonged hunger strikes, including one in 2003 that caused his weight to drop more than 100 pounds.
Luzerne County Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan, who will preside over the competency hearing, must look beyond the delusions to determine Mr. Banks’ competency, Mr. Flora said.
The judge must weigh two questions: whether Mr. Banks understands he is under a sentence of death and that he will be executed, and whether he is competent to assist his attorneys in petitioning the state Board of Probation and Parole and the state Board of Pardons for clemency.
Judge Conahan ruled Mr. Banks incompetent on both criteria in February 2006, but that determination was overturned on appeal by the state Supreme Court because the judge had prevented a prosecution psychiatrist, Timothy J. Michals, from testifying.
'It is in my opinion that although Mr. Banks has a psychotic disorder, he has sufficient mental capacity to understand that he has been tried, convicted and sentenced to death as a result of the death of 13 people,' Mr. Michals said in a September 2005 report.
Mr. Michals said Mr. Banks had told him the conviction and death sentence, 'had been vacated by God and his continued incarceration and execution was the result of a wide-range conspiracy between the correctional officers, prosecutors and other government officials.'
Psychiatrists deemed Mr. Banks competent to stand trial in 1983.
Mr. Flora, using an insanity defense, described Mr. Banks at the time as 'delusional' and 'psychotic,' and suggested the 'torment and agony' of a childhood in an interracial home, coupled with living in a racist environment, had led 'to the destruction of George Banks.'
'Competency to be tried is different than competency to be executed,' Mr. Flora said last week. 'You can go through a whole round of appeals on his competency to be executed and you could come back four years later and his condition could have deteriorated.'
If Judge Conahan rules Mr. Banks competent to be executed, Mr. Flora said he could challenge the decision in the state Supreme Court and, if unsuccessful, take the case to the federal court system.
'You would be looking at years of appeals,' Mr. Flora said.
If Judge Conahan rules Mr. Banks incompetent, the decision must be affirmed by the state Supreme Court before Mr. Banks is removed from death row. ... "
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that two death row inmates with mental illness can be forcibly medicated in order to render them competent to continue their appeals and face execution.
A full timeline of the case accompanies the article, excerpted below:
"George Banks sits in his cell at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford for days at a time, alone with the fantasies and delusions that have played in his psyche since before the 1982 killing spree that left 13 people dead in Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Township, including five of his own children.
He often remains behind, locked away in his own world, during the hourlong period each day when he and the other inmates in the prison’s death row unit are permitted to leave the solitary confinement of their cells for exercise and recreation.
Banks, 66, has lived at SCI-Graterford, a maximum-security facility in Montgomery County, about 30 miles west of Philadelphia, since 1985.
A competency hearing scheduled to begin Thursday at the prison could determine whether he dies there.
'You’ve got a man who is severely mentally ill, there’s no dispute on that,' Banks’ attorney, Luzerne County public defender Al Flora Jr., said. 'The only issue is whether he dies in prison as a result of lethal injection or whether he dies in prison as the result of a natural life.'
Banks has lived in the shadow of death since June 1983, when a jury convicted him of the murders of at least four girlfriends, his five children, ages 1 to 5, and four others, and then imposed a capital sentence.
He has survived on the strength of the appeals filed on his behalf in state and federal courts, and on the weakness of his own mental state.
Two years ago, Banks claimed God had granted him clemency and the U.S. government and the Islamic faith were conspiring against him.
In 2004, he claimed he was fighting a 'private war' with former President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern with whom Mr. Clinton had a sexual relationship.
Since his arrest in September 1982, Mr. Banks has attempted suicide at least four times and has gone on prolonged hunger strikes, including one in 2003 that caused his weight to drop more than 100 pounds.
Luzerne County Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan, who will preside over the competency hearing, must look beyond the delusions to determine Mr. Banks’ competency, Mr. Flora said.
The judge must weigh two questions: whether Mr. Banks understands he is under a sentence of death and that he will be executed, and whether he is competent to assist his attorneys in petitioning the state Board of Probation and Parole and the state Board of Pardons for clemency.
Judge Conahan ruled Mr. Banks incompetent on both criteria in February 2006, but that determination was overturned on appeal by the state Supreme Court because the judge had prevented a prosecution psychiatrist, Timothy J. Michals, from testifying.
'It is in my opinion that although Mr. Banks has a psychotic disorder, he has sufficient mental capacity to understand that he has been tried, convicted and sentenced to death as a result of the death of 13 people,' Mr. Michals said in a September 2005 report.
Mr. Michals said Mr. Banks had told him the conviction and death sentence, 'had been vacated by God and his continued incarceration and execution was the result of a wide-range conspiracy between the correctional officers, prosecutors and other government officials.'
Psychiatrists deemed Mr. Banks competent to stand trial in 1983.
Mr. Flora, using an insanity defense, described Mr. Banks at the time as 'delusional' and 'psychotic,' and suggested the 'torment and agony' of a childhood in an interracial home, coupled with living in a racist environment, had led 'to the destruction of George Banks.'
'Competency to be tried is different than competency to be executed,' Mr. Flora said last week. 'You can go through a whole round of appeals on his competency to be executed and you could come back four years later and his condition could have deteriorated.'
If Judge Conahan rules Mr. Banks competent to be executed, Mr. Flora said he could challenge the decision in the state Supreme Court and, if unsuccessful, take the case to the federal court system.
'You would be looking at years of appeals,' Mr. Flora said.
If Judge Conahan rules Mr. Banks incompetent, the decision must be affirmed by the state Supreme Court before Mr. Banks is removed from death row. ... "
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