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Supreme Court clears way for Texas executionCourt rejects competency arguments
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block the scheduled execution of Texas man diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. James Colburn faces lethal injection Wednesday for the 1994 stabbing death of a woman outside Houston, Texas. His lawyers made a last-minute plea to the high court, arguing Colburn was incompetent to stand trial because he was heavily sedated with antipsychotic drugs in court. Colburn's attorneys argued that the trial was unconstitutional because his condition prevented him from participating in his defense. The jury took just half an hour to convict Colburn, and two hours to recommend a death sentence. The Supreme Court in June ruled executing the mentally retarded was constitutionally "cruel and unusual punishment." But justices so far have not imposed complete protection from the death penalty for those with mental problems such as Colburn's. Colburn had been in and out of prison since 1980, and his lawyer said he had been taking a number of antidepressant and antipsychotic medications since age 16. According to The New York Times, psychiatrists first detected Colburn's condition when he was 14. He was raped at the age of 17, according to the newspaper report, and later in his life, Colburn began hearing voices and suffering delusions. Colburn would be the 30th prisoner executed in Texas this year.
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