State psychiatrist described Percy Walton as ‘floridly psychotic’

Richmond, VA -- The ACLU of Virginia today asked Governor Tim Kaine to commute the sentence of Percy Walton, a severely mentally ill individual set for lethal injection on December 8. Walton was originally scheduled for execution on June 8, but Kaine delayed the execution for six months in order to conduct his own evaluation of Walton’s mental condition.
Walton pled guilty to three killings in 1996, but doubts about his sanity have haunted his case from the beginning. A state psychiatrist found him competent to stand trial, but also noted that he was a danger to himself and others and recommended that he be confined to a psychiatric facility. Without a court hearing to determine competency, Walton was sentenced to death.
Later psychiatric evaluations by several state doctors indisputably concluded that Walton is a schizophrenic --“floridly psychotic,” according to one psychiatrist -- who does not understand that his execution means his death. These evaluations not only conclude that Walton is psychotic, but that he has been that way since at least age 16, two years before he committed the crimes to which he confessed.
“There seems to be little doubt that Percy Walton was schizophrenic when he committed the crimes for which he is about to be executed, and that he still is,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis. “The execution of a severely mentally ill person who does not understand his crime or the punishment he faces serves no purpose in a civilized society, except perhaps to make us wonder if we are as civilized as we think we are.”
The ACLU of Virginia has produced two comprehensive studies -- Unequal, Unfair and Irreversible (2000) and Broken Justice (2003) -- demonstrating that the death penalty in Virginia is severely flawed. More recently, the ACLU was one of numerous Virginia organizations, including many that do not oppose the death penalty, to endorse Equal Play and Fair Justice (2006), yet another extensive report exposing deficiencies in the administration of Virginia’s system of capital punishment .
“We know that the process by which Percy Walton received a sentence of death was flawed, we know that Percy Walton is severely mentally ill, and we know that the Supreme Court has ruled that a severely mentally ill person cannot be executed,” said Willis. “The math is very simple here, and it adds up to a commutation of Mr. Percy’s sentence.”
The complete letter from the ACLU can be found at http://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/20061204-Walton-Clemency-II.pdf.

Contact: Kent Willis, 804/644-8022