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Thread: Mack Arthur King - Mississippi

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    Mack Arthur King - Mississippi




    Summary of Offense:

    Was convicted and sentenced to death for the August 3, 1980 murder of 84-year-old Lela Patterson. The Lowndes County woman was beaten, strangled and drowned at her home during a burglary. Her body was found in a bathtub. When he was arrested, King had some of her belongings.

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    February 20, 2008

    US Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from Miss. death row inmate

    The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from Mississippi death row inmate Mack Arthur King.

    King was appealing a 2007 ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court, which ruled King was not mentally retarded and would not be given money to pay for another mental evaluation.

    The nation's high court without comment Tuesday declined King's request to review his case.

    King had sought an order that Lowndes County provide him with money to hire an expert to try to prove he is mentally retarded. A trial judge denied the request in 2003.

    Prosecutors had argued that a mental evaluations conducted in 1983 were adequate for the trial judge to rule King was not mentally retarded. They said the trial judge had expert testimony about the results of the tests to rely on.

    Defense attorneys contended the 1983 testing was invalid now under procedures put in place since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in a Virginia case that it's illegal to execute people who are mentally retarded. The court said it would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment" to execute anyone with a combined IQ of 75 or lower.

    King's case was before the Supreme Court for the 4th time.

    King was first sentenced to death in 1980, then again in 1998 and again in 2003 for the killing of an elderly Lowndes County woman.

    King was convicted for the 1980 murder of 84-year-old Lela Patterson. The woman was beaten, strangled and drowned at her home during a burglary. Her body was found in a bathtub. When he was arrested, King had some of her belongings, according to court records.

    In dispensing with dozens of mental retardation claims from Mississippi's death row, the Mississippi Supreme Court has required the inmates to produce an expert opinion that the defendant possessed an IQ of 75 or below and that further testing showed the inmate was not malingering.

    The Mississippi court in 2007 said King did not present enough evidence to support his claim of mental retardation to require the hiring of an expert.

    (Source: AP)

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    April 9, 2009

    Supreme Court questions death row inmate's mental claims

    State Supreme Court justices Wednesday questioned Lowndes County murderer Mack Arthur King's arguments that he's mentally retarded and shouldn't be executed for murdering Lela Patterson 29 years ago.

    King appears mentally competent in his conduct, including having law books to study in his prison cell, said Chief Justice William Waller Jr.

    "That would be behavior totally inconsistent of somebody who's mentally retarded," Waller said during a hearing the Supreme Court held for King's appeal.

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it's unconstitutional to execute people who are mentally retarded. For at least the 6th time since first sentenced to death in 1980, King is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to spare him from the state execution chamber.

    He’s had death sentences reversed 2 times before by the high court in the past 14 years because of Lowndes County Circuit Court judge's errors and then resentenced by juries after new trials.

    The high court in 2007 affirmed the most recent death sentence King received for murdering Patterson. The 84-year-old woman was beaten, strangled and drowned at her Lowndes County home when King was committing a burglary, according to court records.

    The state Supreme Court, in its 5-2 decision 2 years ago, rejected King's arguments that he's mentally retarded.

    In Wednesday’s hearing, justices pressed King's attorney to discuss what new evidence has emerged about the death-row inmate's psychological condition to make them reverse their 2007 decision.

    His attorney, Glenn Swartzfager, said new psychiatric exams and King's behavior — including being "slow" and having to get specific instructions on how to do menial chores in prison — show he's retarded.

    "That's certainly new evidence of his lack of adaptive function," said Swartzfager, who's director of the state Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel.

    He wants the high court to throw out King's death sentence and order a new trial-court hearing on whether he's mentally retarded.

    However, state Assistant Attorney General Jason Davis told the court King is presenting the same evidence about his mental condition the justices have previously decided doesn't justify having his death sentence overturned.

    "There is no new information," Davis said.

    It's uncertain when the Supreme Court will issue a decision on King's appeal, but it'll probably be this summer. The court handed down its 2007 decision in King's earlier appeal 2 months after hearing oral arguments in the case.

    (source: The Commercial Dispatch)

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    King was denied post-conviction relief by the Mississippi Supreme Court in a September 28, 2009 opinion.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO57390.pdf

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    September 28, 2009

    The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to allow death row inmate Mack Arthur King to seek a new trial on the issue of mental disability.

    The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down King's post-conviction petition. In a post-conviction petition, in which an inmate argues he has found new evidence - or a possible constitutional issue - that could persuade a court to order a new trial.

    King was convicted in Lowndes County for the 1980 murder of 84-year-old Lela Patterson. The woman was beaten, strangled and drowned at her home during a burglary. Her body was found in a bathtub. When he was arrested, King had some of her belongings, according to court records.

    King was first sentenced to death in 1980, then again in 1998 and again in 2003.

    A Lowndes County judge turned down his post conviction petition in 2008. The U.S. Supreme Court also refused to hear the case.

    The Supreme Court on Thursday said King's mental disability claims were rejected when the it had upheld his conviction and he could not pursue it further.

    Justice Jim Kitchens, in a dissenting opinion, said King should be given a chance to explore his mental disability claim and given help by the courts to do so.

    http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pb...=2009909270359

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On January 15, 2010, King filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/mis...cv00007/29957/

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    Federal court orders mental evaluation for death row inmate Mack Arthur King

    A federal judge has ordered a mental evaluation for a Mississippi death row inmate.

    U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock issued the order Friday as requested by the Mississippi attorney general's office.

    Prosecutors had sought the mental examination for Mack Arthur King after a doctor who done a previous evaluation declined to further participate in the case. Prosecutors said even though they had subpoenaed the previous doctor, they wanted a new evaluation to combat King's ongoing claims that he suffers from mental issues and shouldn't be executed.

    King, now 53, was sentenced to die by a Lowndes County jury in the death of 84-year-old Lela Patterson in 1980. Patterson was beaten, strangled and drowned at her home during a burglary.

    King had his conviction and sentence overturned on two previous appeals. He was tried and convicted for a third time in 2003 and sentenced to death.

    King had already been evaluated by a doctor as part of his defense. Aycock ordered that the results of that examination be provided the prosecution's new doctor.

    Aycock said the findings of the new examination were to be filed with the court by Jan. 18 and shared with King's attorneys.

    The judge said a Jan. 10 hearing that had been scheduled on King's mental health claim would be rescheduled when the mental exam was completed.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...-Death-Penalty
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    A federal judge has scheduled a March 22 hearing on the results of a mental evaluation for a Mississippi death row inmate.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...-Death-Penalty
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    New mental report key to King's death sentence

    A federal judge has canceled a hearing scheduled for Friday on the results of a mental evaluation of Mississippi death row inmate Mack Arthur King.

    Prosecutors on March 15 asked U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock for more time for Dr. Gilbert S. Macvaugh III to complete his report on the mental examination.

    Aycock granted the motion giving Macvaugh until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file his report with the court.

    Aycock canceled Friday's hearing to give herself and attorneys for both sides time to review the report. The hearing has not been rescheduled.

    King, now 53, was sentenced to die by a Lowndes County jury in the death of 84-year-old Lela Patterson in 1980. Patterson was beaten, strangled and drowned at her home during a burglary.

    http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/N...#ixzz2O74XYQzN
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  10. #10
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    Federal judge tosses out Mack Arthur King's death sentence

    A federal judge has ruled a Mississippi inmate is mentally disabled and is not to be executed.

    U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock on Tuesday threw out Mack Arthur King's death sentence and gave the state 60 days to resentence him.

    King, now 53, was sentenced to die by a Lowndes County jury in the death of 84-year-old Lela Patterson in 1980. Patterson was beaten, strangled and drowned at her home during a burglary. Her body was found in a bathtub. When he was arrested, King had some of her belongings, according to court records.

    King's conviction and sentence were overturned on two previous state appeals. Then he was tried and convicted a third time in 2003 and sentenced to death. Initially, he was evaluated by a doctor as part of his defense.

    His conviction was appealed to federal court in 2010 on numerous issues, including his mental state.

    Mississippi prosecutors this past week agreed with a psychological evaluation stating King is mentally disabled.

    Aycock said in her ruling that the government's concession that King is mentally disabled and King's own expert testimony were evidence enough to rule for King.

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing the mentally disabled amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and is unconstitutional.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...-Death-Penalty
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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