Texas Executes Mentally Impaired Man

This evening, Texas carried out it's 24th execution of the year by putting to death a man that was mentally impaired.  Bobby Wayne Woods, 44, had been convicted of murdering an 11 year old girl in 1997.  The facts of the case are pretty bad.  There was no doubt that Woods was guilty of the murder.  IQ tests administered on Woods showed that he had an IQ between the 60's and 80's.  70 is considered the threshold for mental impairment.  Woods was put to death a half an hour after the United States Supreme Court refused to halt his execution.  In addition to his mental impairment, Woods attorneys argued that he had ineffective assistance of counsel for the appeals process.  However, lawyers for the State of Texas argued that no constitutional right exists for effective assistance of counsel for appeals, thus there were no equal protection violations.

 

Tonight's execution is the last one scheduled for this year in Texas.

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