A Call for Decency

Exceeding the limits of decency: The legal proceedings

Competency proceedings

UPDATE · June 2004
UPDATE · May 2004

Three mental health professionals agree that Greg Thompson is Schizophrenic and lacks the mental capacity to be executed because of long-standing fixed delusions. As reported by one doctor, these delusions include:

the delusional belief that he buried “one million dollars, two gold bars, one Grammy Award, and two stock certificates from Quaker State and Apple Computers” near a church in Georgia. According to Greg, his investigator and his attorneys should be trying to retrieve these items to use as a “mitigator.” By “mitigator” he meant that these items “prove” that he can “take care of myself, and I don’t need any help.” He believes the money he has buried will “prove” to the court that he can take care of himself because “I won’t need to steal like a criminal.” He believes that if his attorneys present this “mitigator” to the court, he will be a “free man.” Greg’s grandiose delusions about his buried money in Georgia and how it can be used as a “mitigator” suggest that he lacks the capacity to appreciate why he is being punished.
the delusional belief that he is actually a “lieutenant” in the navy. He believes that being a “lieutenant” in the navy means that he should have another trial because he did not have the correct “jury” in his first trial. He believes that because he is a “lieutenant,” his jury must be made up of “professionals,” and not “ditch dwellers, no housewives, no store clerks.” He believes he was not provided with the correct jury, so the original trial is invalid. Greg’s delusional statements about his naval career and how it is connected to his trial suggest that he lacks the capacity to appreciate why a jury of his peers sentenced him to death.
Greg believes his attorneys should be getting in touch with a navy recruiter, and they should get in touch with the Secretary of the Navy, and all this evidence should be thrown his way, because “he has the right to judge.” By “evidence” Greg means “the money, and the two check stubs that I wanted checked out, and this should give him (the Secretary of the Navy) the knowledge of why he should help.” Greg’s delusional beliefs about how the navy should be involved in his case, and how obviously delusional evidence could aid him, suggest that he perceives that he can receive another trial for the instant matter. In fact, his discussions suggested that he holds magical, near child-like reasoning about possible avenues of appeal in the present case.
Although Greg can state that he was sentenced to death, he holds the delusional perception that he will not be executed. When asked if the State of Tennessee can execute him, Greg replied, “I don’t think they can, all the mitigation, the songs, the money, we know who did the crime, me, but they can’t execute me because of the Secretary of the Navy, only he handles all the officers, and there is a million dollars in my clothes in Thomaston, Georgia, on East Walker Street near a Baptist church.” Greg’s statements suggest that although he knows his sentence is death, he does not appreciate that the State of Tennessee can legally execute him. Instead, he believes for delusional reasons that he will not be executed. He therefore lacks the capacity to understand that his legal execution is approaching. Further, Greg’s delusional statement suggests that he lacks the capacity to prepare himself for his death with a rational frame of mind.
Greg says he wants “the electric chair” because, “I am used to being shocked, every time I touch my TV, I get shocked, or when I went to a chiropractor in 1982, he twisted my neck, and it felt like a shock.” Greg’s statement suggests that, due to his mental disease, he lacks the capacity to appreciate the finality of the execution process. Instead, he compares lethal electrocution to common static electricity or a chiropractic procedure.
Greg believes it is realistic to assume that he will be “discharged” and can return to live in “Hawaii.” His statement about his “discharge” from prison is not merely wishful thinking, or an attempt to avoid thinking about the inevitable. Instead, his conclusion that he will be “discharged” from prison flows from his grandiose delusion that he has a million dollars and is a lieutenant in the navy, and this information can be used as a “mitigator.” Therefore, Greg’s statement that he will be “discharged” from prison suggests that his mental disease has caused him to be unaware of the punishment he is scheduled to suffer.
Greg was questioned about what would happen to his soul after his death. Greg replied that he believes he is a “Klingon.” He said, “I drink blood wine, and howl at the moon,” adding that his soul will go to “Valhalla.” Subsequently, in a loose and tangential manner, Greg suddenly said, “the Muslims are hairy people, I will have to fight them too.” Greg believes he “made up the Klingons so that young people would have a strong black person on TV.” Importantly, Greg’s statement about being a “Klingon” and going to “Valhalla” are a product of his mental disease and suggests that he lacks the capacity to rationally prepare himself for his own death.
Greg believes he should receive a “mistrial.” His statement is not merely wishful thinking or that of a rational individual arguing a legal point. Greg believes that because his military record with the “Secretary of the Navy” proves he is a “lieutenant,” this will allow for a “mistrial.” He explains in a delusional, convoluted manner that even though the murder happened within the State of Tennessee, he is “Federal property” due to his “officer” status. He informed the examiner that “the State can’t hold Federal property.” When asked why the State of Tennessee has been able to hold him for 19 years if he is correct, Greg replied, “Because I haven’t been doing anything to release myself.” He then asserted his belief that he would not be executed because of his connection with the navy. Greg’s discussion about why the State of Tennessee cannot execute him suggests that due to his mental disease, he lacks the capacity to rationally perceive the connection between his crime and the punishment imposed by the State.

The State Attorney General’s office continues to acknowledge Greg Thompson’s severe mental illness and does not dispute the truth of Greg’s delusional thought process, but insists he is sane enough and should be executed. The State seeks to execute Mr. Thompson without even holding a hearing on his competence to be executed. Though just three years ago the State determined that Mr. Thompson was so incompetent that a conservator was needed to make decisions on his behalf, it now asserts he is sane enough to kill. Greg Thompson’s sentence of death is tainted by the twin stains of mental illness and racism. Clemency from Governor Bredesen is now Gregory Thompson’s only hope for avoiding in death the injustices that have shaped his life.

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Update: May 2004

On May 12, 2004, the Tennessee Supreme Court, over the dissent of Justice Birch, denied the opportunity for any court hearing on Greg Thompson’s mental competence to be executed.

The court reached its decision in the face of uncontradicted affidavits from three distinguished mental health professionals stating unequivocally that Greg Thompson does not satisfy Tennessee’s standard for mental competence. The court acknowledged not only that Greg is psychotic and delusional, but also that he is so mentally incapacitated that the State was impelled in 2001 to seek appointment of a conservator for the purpose of forcibly medicating Greg. In its opinion, the court also noted evidence that shows Greg believes that the murder victim, Brenda Lane, is still alive and working in the prison, that despite being “aware” of his death sentence Greg wonders when he is getting out of prison and that Greg thinks that he cannot die and will stay alive “even if he were executed.”

In the face of such undisputed evidence of Greg Thompson’s profound mental illness it simply denies reality for the court to conclude – without ever holding a hearing – that executing Greg is a legitimate and permissible exercise of state power.

If Greg Thompson is undeserving of a hearing on competence with his uncontroverted record of delusional schizophrenia, then the principle that we must not execute those who are insane announced by the United States Supreme Court in Ford v. Wainwright (1986) has become a dead letter in Tennessee.

It is possible that a federal court will intervene and order a competency hearing. What seems increasingly likely is that in light of this abdication of responsibility by the Tennessee courts, only the executive clemency authority of Governor Bredesen can prevent Greg Thompson’s tragic execution.

Tennesseans must speak out forcefully against the practice of executing the insane sanctioned by a majority of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Otherwise, Tennessee is poised to take a giant step down the barbaric road that the rest of the civilized world abandoned long ago.

Update: June 2004

On June 21, 2004 the federal district court entered a stay of execution to consider Thompson's claim that he is incompetent to be executed.

Exceeding The Limits Of Decency: The Legal Proceedings

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National Mental Health Association
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