Texas to execute mentally ill man in controversial case

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Texas is scheduled Thursday to execute a mentally ill man for conspiracy to murder in a case that death penalty opponents say illustrates why the practice is deeply flawed.

Jeffery Lee Wood, 35, "has never taken a human life by his own hands," and "was outside the building in a car at the time of the murder," his attorneys said in a statement.

Wood's partner in crime, Daniel Reneau, was executed in 2002 for killing a store manager during a robbery.

"At Reneau's trial, the prosecution had argued that Reneau was the person chiefly responsible for the crime and that Wood's role was secondary," the Death Penalty Information Center said.

"Wood was involved in the robbery in this case because of his longstanding mental illness that...