The Capital Times

SAVE SCOTT PANETTI

The Capital Times

Rob Zaleski: Death penalty hits home

By Rob Zaleski
January 26, 2004

To hear Jack and Yvonne Panetti tell it, the mental problems that have tormented their son were evident almost two decades ago.

And it was the demons he was battling, they contend, that caused Scott Panetti - who'd shaved his head and was clad in military fatigues - to shoot and kill his parents-in-law after breaking into their Fredericksburg, Texas, home on a September morning in 1992.

But three years later - after a bizarre trial in which Scott, acting as his own lawyer, wanted to subpoena Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy, among others - a Texas jury decided otherwise.

And so, barring any last-minute developments, the 45-year-old Panetti - a former all-conference football star at Poynette High School in Wisconsin - will be executed by lethal injection on Feb. 5 at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas.

Still, as grim as things look, Yvonne Panetti insists she hasn't lost hope.

"I still think we can stop this," she said in a phone interview last week from the RV trailer where she and her husband are living near Livingston. "And I say that because I'm a religious person. I've always believed that if God wants Scott's life to be spared, it will be spared."

What slim hopes she has are based on an 11th-hour legal maneuver by Scott's attorney, Michael Gross. Although the U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to hear Scott's appeal, Gross has filed a petition for clemency with the Texas justice department. If that's rejected, he'll file another appeal on the grounds that executing someone who's mentally ill violates the U.S. Constitution.

Because of Scott's long history of mental illness, his case also has attracted the attention of Amnesty International. And in recent months, the human rights group has generated an international letter-writing campaign in which Scott's supporters - including actress Susan Sarandon - have urged the Texas Board of Pardons and Appeals to commute Scott's sentence to life in prison.

Understand, nobody's denying that Scott murdered the parents of his second wife, Sonja Alvarado, in the early morning hours of Sept. 8, 1992, says Angie Hougas of McFarland, the Wisconsin coordinator for Amnesty International. (Sonja had separated from Scott due to his drinking and abusive behavior. She and their 3-year-old daughter were living with her parents at the time of the murders.)

But Scott's supporters argue that because he'd been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1986 and had been hospitalized more than a dozen times before the crime, he never should have been allowed to represent himself at the trial in the first place.

In fact, a hearing in 1994 to determine whether Scott was mentally competent ended in a mistrial, Hougas notes. But a jury at a second hearing later that year did find Scott competent, which cleared the way for his trial in 1995.

"The thing that most upsets me is that there doesn't seem to be any responsibility and accountability on the Texas judicial system," Hougas says. "I mean, this was clearly a case that never should have been allowed to take place the way it did. Anytime somebody says they want to subpoena Jesus Christ - I don't care how much you favor the death penalty, you've got to be thinking, something's not right here."

Jack and Yvonne Panetti - who are both retired and whose main residence is the town of Jump River in northwestern Wisconsin - share those sentiments.

Unfortunately, Yvonne says, their pleas haven't roused much sympathy in a conservative state like Texas, which has executed 314 criminals since the death penalty was resumed in the United States in 1977.

The Panettis are allowed one two-hour visit each week with their son. And during their visit last week, Scott did appear agitated at times, realizing that his time's running out, his mother says.

"Oh yes, he's aware of his situation," she says. "It's like I tell everyone, although you're mentally ill, it doesn't mean you're stupid. He's very deep into religion and he does extensive exercising."

Hougas, who also remains hopeful, says the case should be a real eye-opener for Wisconsin, particularly since there are some who are determined to revive the death penalty in this state.

"Keep in mind, this family has Wisconsin roots, and Scott's parents still live here," she says. "I think we need to ask ourselves, is this really the type of thing we want to be dealing with in this state - and all the ethical questions that go with it?"

Perhaps the most curious aspect of the case is that it has virtually been ignored by the media. (With the exception of Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who's written several excellent pieces in the last few years.)

In Yvonne Panetti's view, it's because most Americans have little appreciation for just how destructive mental illness can be - or the fact that "it can strike any one of us." And those who do know - and who have watched a loved succumb to the disease - are reluctant to speak out, she says, because of the stigma that's still attached to mental illness.

Indeed, the saddest and most frustrating part of Scott's ordeal, Yvonne says, is that he began complaining about the demons in 1986 and nobody was able to help him.

By the time he broke into the Alvarados' home, she says, "he was ruled by forces that were beyond his control."

E-mail: rzaleski@madison.com

Rob Zaleski is a 32-year veteran of the news business. His columns appear every Monday and Wednesday in the Communities section.

Editorial: Madness in Texas

An editorial

February 3, 2004

Barring an unlikely last-minute intervention by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, or an only slightly more likely intervention by the federal courts, the state of Texas on Thursday will execute a man for the "crime" of mental illness.

This is not exactly news. Texas and other Southern states that continue to engage in the barbaric practice of state-sponsored killing regularly execute people who suffer from mental retardation, mental illness and other conditions that civilized states and nations long ago recognized as requiring treatment and in most cases long-term separation from society -- not punishment by death.

What distinguishes the execution set for Thursday is that the man slated to die in Texas is a Wisconsin native, Scott Louis Panetti, whose family continues to live here. A Poynette High School graduate, Panetti, 45, was sentenced to death for the September 1992 shooting deaths of Jose and Amanda Alvarado, his wife's parents, in Fredericksburg, Texas.

That Panetti committed the crime is not in question.

Nor is there much question about why he killed the Alvarados. Panetti suffered from severe and persistent mental illness for more than a dozen years prior to the killings. That illness caused him to hallucinate, to commit violent acts and to be hospitalized 11 times in the years before the murders.

Had Panetti been accused of murder in Wisconsin, the likelihood is that he would have received a fair trial, been convicted and been institutionalized for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, he was tried in Texas, a state where the courts are notoriously irresponsible -- even in cases where legal missteps can lead to wrongful deaths. In Panetti's case, the judge paid no heed to the accused man's history of mental illness and allowed Panetti to represent himself. What followed was a travesty of justice. Records show that Panetti rambled nonsensically and repeatedly engaged in bizarre behavior.

A standby lawyer who monitored the trial says Panetti had no grasp of reality during the time when he was representing himself. He may not even have known that his life was at stake. Legal experts agree that Panetti was wrongfully convicted. So too does Sonja Alvarado, his former wife and the daughter of the slain couple. Alvarado says that she told the prosecutor in the case that she had pleaded with Fredericksburg police numerous times to take Panetti's guns from him because he was exhibiting signs of mental illness and refusing to take his medication.

When the police would not remove Panetti's guns, Sonja Alvarado says, she took them to the police station in the hopes of keeping them away from him. The police returned Panetti's guns to him before the killings -- effectively placing the murder weapons in the hands of a man whose wife had repeatedly warned authorities that he was dangerous. When Sonja Alvarado tried to bring these details to the attention of prosecutors, and to clarify what had happened during the trial, she was told not to bring up the gross irresponsibility of the police in Fredericksburg. "I feel now that I was used on the stand so that I would cover up for the law enforcement mistakes," she says, adding that, "I know now that Scott is mentally ill and should not be put to death."

Amnesty International shares that view. The human rights organization has issued an urgent appeal to its members worldwide, asking them to sign and circulate a petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to spare Panetti. (To learn more, visit http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/.)

But more action is needed. Gov. Jim Doyle, a former Dane County district attorney and state attorney general, should speak out on behalf of a Wisconsin native who is about to be slain because of prosecutorial misconduct and judicial incompetence. It would be difficult for Texas officials to dismiss Doyle.

As a veteran prosecutor, as an expert on issues involving mental illness and crime, and as the governor of a state that follows the rule of law, he can make it clear that it is legally and morally wrong to execute a mentally ill man who, by any accepted legal standard, did not receive a fair trial.

Published: 11:45 AM 2/03/04


				*SAVE SCOTT PANETTI* *The Capital Times*



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		Rob Zaleski: Death penalty hits home By Rob Zaleski January 26, 2004 To hear Jack and Yvonne Panetti tell it, the mental problems that have tormented their son were evident almost two decades ago. And it was the demons he was battling, they contend, that caused Scott Panetti - who'd shaved his head and was clad in military fatigues - to shoot and kill his parents-in-law after breaking into their Fredericksburg, Texas, home on a September morning in 1992. But three years later - after a bizarre trial in which Scott, acting as his own lawyer, wanted to subpoena Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy, among others - a Texas jury decided otherwise. And so, barring any last-minute developments, the 45-year-old Panetti - a former all-conference football star at Poynette High School in Wisconsin - will be executed by lethal injection on Feb. 5 at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. Still, as grim as things look, Yvonne Panetti insists she hasn't lost hope. "I still think we can stop this," she said in a phone interview last week from the RV trailer where she and her husband are living near Livingston. "And I say that because I'm a religious person. I've always believed that if God wants Scott's life to be spared, it will be spared." What slim hopes she has are based on an 11th-hour legal maneuver by Scott's attorney, Michael Gross. Although the U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to hear Scott's appeal, Gross has filed a petition for clemency with the Texas justice department. If that's rejected, he'll file another appeal on the grounds that executing someone who's mentally ill violates the U.S. Constitution. Because of Scott's long history of mental illness, his case also has attracted the attention of Amnesty International. And in recent months, the human rights group has generated an international letter-writing campaign in which Scott's supporters - including actress Susan Sarandon - have urged the Texas Board of Pardons and Appeals to commute Scott's sentence to life in prison. Understand, nobody's denying that Scott murdered the parents of his second wife, Sonja Alvarado, in the early morning hours of Sept. 8, 1992, says Angie Hougas of McFarland, the Wisconsin coordinator for Amnesty International. (Sonja had separated from Scott due to his drinking and abusive behavior. She and their 3-year-old daughter were living with her parents at the time of the murders.) But Scott's supporters argue that because he'd been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1986 and had been hospitalized more than a dozen times before the crime, he never should have been allowed to represent himself at the trial in the first place. In fact, a hearing in 1994 to determine whether Scott was mentally competent ended in a mistrial, Hougas notes. But a jury at a second hearing later that year did find Scott competent, which cleared the way for his trial in 1995. "The thing that most upsets me is that there doesn't seem to be any responsibility and accountability on the Texas judicial system," Hougas says. "I mean, this was clearly a case that never should have been allowed to take place the way it did. Anytime somebody says they want to subpoena Jesus Christ - I don't care how much you favor the death penalty, you've got to be thinking, something's not right here." Jack and Yvonne Panetti - who are both retired and whose main residence is the town of Jump River in northwestern Wisconsin - share those sentiments. Unfortunately, Yvonne says, their pleas haven't roused much sympathy in a conservative state like Texas, which has executed 314 criminals since the death penalty was resumed in the United States in 1977. The Panettis are allowed one two-hour visit each week with their son. And during their visit last week, Scott did appear agitated at times, realizing that his time's running out, his mother says. "Oh yes, he's aware of his situation," she says. "It's like I tell everyone, although you're mentally ill, it doesn't mean you're stupid. He's very deep into religion and he does extensive exercising." Hougas, who also remains hopeful, says the case should be a real eye-opener for Wisconsin, particularly since there are some who are determined to revive the death penalty in this state. "Keep in mind, this family has Wisconsin roots, and Scott's parents still live here," she says. "I think we need to ask ourselves, is this really the type of thing we want to be dealing with in this state - and all the ethical questions that go with it?" Perhaps the most curious aspect of the case is that it has virtually been ignored by the media. (With the exception of Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who's written several excellent pieces in the last few years.) In Yvonne Panetti's view, it's because most Americans have little appreciation for just how destructive mental illness can be - or the fact that "it can strike any one of us." And those who do know - and who have watched a loved succumb to the disease - are reluctant to speak out, she says, because of the stigma that's still attached to mental illness. Indeed, the saddest and most frustrating part of Scott's ordeal, Yvonne says, is that he began complaining about the demons in 1986 and nobody was able to help him. By the time he broke into the Alvarados' home, she says, "he was ruled by forces that were beyond his control." E-mail: rzaleski@madison.com Rob Zaleski is a 32-year veteran of the news business. His columns appear every Monday and Wednesday in the Communities section.						Editorial: Madness in Texas An editorial February 3, 2004 Barring an unlikely last-minute intervention by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, or an only slightly more likely intervention by the federal courts, the state of Texas on Thursday will execute a man for the "crime" of mental illness. This is not exactly news. Texas and other Southern states that continue to engage in the barbaric practice of state-sponsored killing regularly execute people who suffer from mental retardation, mental illness and other conditions that civilized states and nations long ago recognized as requiring treatment and in most cases long-term separation from society -- not punishment by death. What distinguishes the execution set for Thursday is that the man slated to die in Texas is a Wisconsin native, Scott Louis Panetti, whose family continues to live here. A Poynette High School graduate, Panetti, 45, was sentenced to death for the September 1992 shooting deaths of Jose and Amanda Alvarado, his wife's parents, in Fredericksburg, Texas. That Panetti committed the crime is not in question. Nor is there much question about why he killed the Alvarados. Panetti suffered from severe and persistent mental illness for more than a dozen years prior to the killings. That illness caused him to hallucinate, to commit violent acts and to be hospitalized 11 times in the years before the murders. Had Panetti been accused of murder in Wisconsin, the likelihood is that he would have received a fair trial, been convicted and been institutionalized for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, he was tried in Texas, a state where the courts are notoriously irresponsible -- even in cases where legal missteps can lead to wrongful deaths. In Panetti's case, the judge paid no heed to the accused man's history of mental illness and allowed Panetti to represent himself. What followed was a travesty of justice. Records show that Panetti rambled nonsensically and repeatedly engaged in bizarre behavior. A standby lawyer who monitored the trial says Panetti had no grasp of reality during the time when he was representing himself. He may not even have known that his life was at stake. Legal experts agree that Panetti was wrongfully convicted. So too does Sonja Alvarado, his former wife and the daughter of the slain couple. Alvarado says that she told the prosecutor in the case that she had pleaded with Fredericksburg police numerous times to take Panetti's guns from him because he was exhibiting signs of mental illness and refusing to take his medication. When the police would not remove Panetti's guns, Sonja Alvarado says, she took them to the police station in the hopes of keeping them away from him. The police returned Panetti's guns to him before the killings -- effectively placing the murder weapons in the hands of a man whose wife had repeatedly warned authorities that he was dangerous. When Sonja Alvarado tried to bring these details to the attention of prosecutors, and to clarify what had happened during the trial, she was told not to bring up the gross irresponsibility of the police in Fredericksburg. "I feel now that I was used on the stand so that I would cover up for the law enforcement mistakes," she says, adding that, "I know now that Scott is mentally ill and should not be put to death." Amnesty International shares that view. The human rights organization has issued an urgent appeal to its members worldwide, asking them to sign and circulate a petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to spare Panetti. (To learn more, visit http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/.) But more action is needed. Gov. Jim Doyle, a former Dane County district attorney and state attorney general, should speak out on behalf of a Wisconsin native who is about to be slain because of prosecutorial misconduct and judicial incompetence. It would be difficult for Texas officials to dismiss Doyle. As a veteran prosecutor, as an expert on issues involving mental illness and crime, and as the governor of a state that follows the rule of law, he can make it clear that it is legally and morally wrong to execute a mentally ill man who, by any accepted legal standard, did not receive a fair trial. Published: 11:45 AM 2/03/04



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