Press release from 23 June 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2004
Contact: Dana Hansen, Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, Inc.
865-637-7979 for further details
Federal court enters brief stay of execution to consider Greg Thompson’s claim of incompetency to be executed.
On June 21, 2004, a federal court in Chattanooga granted Greg Thompson a temporary reprieve from execution scheduled for August 19, 2004.
Judge Curtis L. Collier granted a brief stay of the August 19th execution date to consider Greg Thompson’s habeas corpus petition and his request for a hearing on his competency to be executed.
“Greg Thompson is not competent to be executed,” Federal Community Defender, Dana Chavis, said. “This stay of execution allows the federal court time to give due consideration to Mr. Thompson’s claim that his execution would be inhumane and unconstitutional.”
“The State of Tennessee agrees that Greg Thompson has been medicated by prison doctors for serious mental illness since arriving on death row. The State agrees with a prison doctor that Greg Thompson suffers from Bipolar Disorder with Psychotic Features. In fact, the State of Tennessee obtained a court-ordered conservatorship for Greg Thompson admitting that his mental illness is so serious that he lacked all capacity for rational thought and could not make appropriate decisions for himself.”
In May, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied a court hearing on Thompson’s capacity to be executed despite the opinions of three mental health professionals that Greg Thompson is incompetent to be executed. “Our hope is that, without the pressure of an immediate execution date, the federal court will have time to fully consider the evidence of Mr. Thompson’s incompetency and hold a hearing,” said Chavis. “We believe Tennesseans do not want an insane man executed in their name. Certainly, there should be no rush to execution. Greg Thompson should be given his day in court to demonstrate that he lacks the capacity to be executed.”
Supporters
International Justice Project
National Mental Health Association
Tennessee Black Caucus
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