Texas executes death row prisoner despite mental impairment defense News
Texas executes death row prisoner despite mental impairment defense

[JURIST] The State of Texas executed death row inmate Bobby Wayne Woods [TDCJ profile] by lethal injection Thursday, over the objections of lawyers who argued Woods was mentally impaired and thus could not be executed under federal law. Defense lawyers argued that Woods's IQ fell below 70, a number used generally as a threshold for mental retardation. The Texas Court of Appeals rejected [opinion, PDF] this argument, citing evidence that Woods' IQ was as high as 86. Earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles [official website] voted against granting Woods clemency. The US Supreme Court [official website] also denied [order, PDF] Woods's lawyers' request [docket] to halt the execution.

Woods was convicted of breaking into his former girlfriend's house in 1997 and sexually assaulting, abducting, and murdering her 11-year-old daughter. Woods was convicted and sentenced to death in 1998. Despite repeated appeals, Woods was unsuccessful in having his sentence permanently stayed. Mentally retarded persons cannot be executed under the US Supreme Court's 2002 ruling in Atkins v. Virginia [opinion]. Texas is one of 37 states that maintains the death penalty [TDCJ backgrounder; JURIST news archive].

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.