Capital Procedure/
Severe Mental Disability
An Act to Amend the Capital Trial,
Sentencing, and Post-Conviction
Procedures for persons with Severe
Mental Disability
State and Federal laws consistently
recognize that people with less
capacity to control their behavior due
to serious mental illness should not
be subject to the same sanctions as
people without such disabilities.
Despite safeguards designed
to prevent the execution of a
defendant who is insane, there
are prisoners on death row
who have severe mental
disabilities
In recent years,
a national effort has begun
to address concerns
regarding the execution of persons with
severe mental disability
The national
debate about the
fairness of
imposing the
: death penalty on
~ Jo defendants with
4 severe mental
disability is
escalating
National Organizations Supporting the
effort to prohibit the execution of
we
severe mental illness
» National Alliance on
Mental Illness
~The American Psychiatric
Association
~ American Psychological
Association
~ American Bar
Association
Y Mental Health Association
¥ NAMI- North Carolina Chapter
¥\North’Carolina Psychological Association
v North Carolina i i
Y Council of Churches
Y NASW- North Carolina Chapter
e= 8 R eT
ey
The capital trial, sentencing, and appeal/post-
conviction process in North Carolina does not
offer adequate protection for persons with
serious mental disability
Current Procedure
_ Two-part trial for capital cases
Y Guilt / innocence
phase
Current Capital Case Procedure
ap.
Capital Case Trial Procedure
Decision of State to charge as a Capital Case
Currently, our criminal justice system has obstacles to
providing fair treatment to people with severe mental
illness
a.
Because of their impairments, people with mental illness often:
Y Undermine their own defense
Y Or are unable to cooperate or assist their attorneys
Y Defendants insist on representing themselves without
assistance of attorney
Y Waiver of appeals
Juries often perceive mental illness as aggravating, not mitigating
a
Political considerations and public
misperceptions about mental
disability have hindered a fair and
reasonable resolution to this
problem
This proposed legislation
balances the state’s interest
in public safety, and deterrence
with an understanding of
mental illness, its effect on
individual behavior, and the
particular needs of those
with mental disabilities
Proposed Change to Capital Trial
Procedures
ap.
Proposed Change to Capital Trial Procedure
Atkins v. Virginia
Ql.
The US Supreme Court recognized that a
criminal defendant’s mental retardation often
impedes a fair determination of a defendant’s
guilt and sentence, because they are not able
to assist in their defense, may appear
frightening to jurors due to their mental
retardation, they are more likely to be
wrongfully convicted.
The severity of the
appropriate
punishment
necessarily depends
on the culpability of
the offender
Supreme Court Justice Lewis
Powell recognized
” : The death penalty has
<a little deterrent force
against defendants who
have reduced capacity
for considered choice.
Retribution and deterrence are the two primary
justifications recognized by the US Supreme Court for
applying the death penalty...
o2co0.
Neither is furthered by executing defendants with
orks
severe mental illness
“Injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice
everywhere”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
