EXTERNAL                                             AI Index: AMR 51/04/96

EXTRA 05/96             Death Penalty / Legal concern       15 January 1996

USA (TEXAS)             Emile Duhamel
 
 

Emile Duhamel (white), sentenced to death for murder, is scheduled to be executed on 24 January 1996 in Texas despite reportedly being diagnosed as mentally ill with mental retardation.

According to information received, Emile Duhamel was a patient at a mental hospital during his childhood, and has been diagnosed as suffering from mental illness with mental retardation, including paranoid schizophrenia and major depression.  He reportedly has an IQ of 56 (an average person's IQ score is 100), and suffers from organic brain dysfunction, seizures and
dementia.  Since his incarceration in July 1984, Duhamel's condition is said to have deteriorated so that he is sometimes delusional and reclusive and experiences auditory and visual hallucinations.

A physician appointed by the court in 1984 reportedly found Duhamel competent to stand trial, but, five months later, changed his evaluation because Duhamel's mental condition had deteriorated so much.  The doctor stated at a hearing that Duhamel was "in no position to stand trial" since he did not understand the proceedings against him and could not assist his
attorney in his defence. Duhamel reportedly denied his lawyer's presence and imagined that a non-existent lawyer was his attorney. The prosecution maintained that Duhamel was faking his illness. At the hearing the state reportedly failed to appoint a mental health expert, but presented only the testimony of jail guards who stated that Duhamel "seemed fine to them". Duhamel was found competent to stand trial.  Duhamel was not brought to trial until 1986, during which time he remained in jail and his condition reportedly deteriorated; despite this, he was untreated for his mental illness for at least a year while in jail. After being sentenced to death, Duhamel entered the psychiatric unit on death row and received medication for his condition.

According to information received, Duhamel was again examined for competency in 1988.  Although one doctor found that his mental retardation"has and always will prevent him from understanding his crime and sentence", another doctor appointed by the court found him competent.  The same doctor concluded in October 1995 that Duhamel is competent to be
executed and that "he knows the facts of his impending execution, and knows the reason for it".  At a hearing on his case in November 1995, Duhamel was again found competent to be executed.  Duhamel was reportedly unrepresented at the hearing, without defence counsel or any mental health expert toprovide testimony on his behalf.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel or degrading punishment, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Moreover, the organization is concerned that Emile Duhamel's
execution may contravene United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution 1989/64, adopted in May 1989, which recommends "eliminating the death penalty for persons suffering from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence".

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Fifty-six prisoners were executed in the USA in 1995; 19 of these were carried out in Texas.  In Texas the governor may commute a sentence of death only if he receives a favourable recommendation from the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.  The Board consistently refuses to hold full clemency hearings in death penalty cases, and apart from a number of commutations granted in the 1980s as the result of two key court rulings, has never recommended clemency in any death penalty case in recent years.