Missouri executes man for 1996 killing of sheriff's deputy
Source: Associated Press
Missouri executes man for 1996 killing of sheriff's deputy
By JIM SUHR, Associated Press | March 17, 2015 | Updated: March 17, 2015 9:52pm
BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's oldest death row inmate was executed Tuesday for the 1996 shooting death of a sheriff's deputy, after the U.S. Supreme Court and the governor declined to spare the 74-year-old whose attorneys said he had a diminished mental capacity because of a sawmill accident decades ago.
Cecil Clayton was put to death by lethal injection after Gov. Jay Nixon denied a clemency request and the nation's high court turned aside appeals claiming Clayton was mentally incompetent. The Missouri Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling, already had declined to intervene, with the court's majority concluding last weekend there was no evidence Clayton — despite his brain injury — wasn't capable of understanding his circumstances. The U.S. Supreme Court was also divided, with four judges saying they would have granted a stay.
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As the execution began, Clayton appeared to breathe heavily for about a minute, and the sheet over his right leg quivered slightly. His mouth slowly went agape, but there was no other movement before he was pronounced dead.
The claim of Clayton's diminished mental capacity stemmed from a 1972 sawmill accident that his attorneys argued cost him about 8 percent of his brain, including one-fifth of the frontal lobe portion governing impulse control and judgment.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Supreme-Court-denies-execution-reprieve-for-6141101.php
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