Man’s incompetence claim denied by Missouri Supreme Court, execution scheduled Aug. 1
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Death penalty in Missouri
Missouri executed four people in 2023. Amber McLaughlin, Michael Tisius, Johnny Johnson and Leonard Taylor, who maintained that he was innocent, all died by lethal injection. The state is one of five in the country that carried out executions last year.
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The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a request to stop the execution of a man on death row who claims he is incompetent.
Johnny Johnson, 45, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday, Aug. 1.
If the execution goes forward, Johnson will be the fourth person put to death by the state this year. Amber McLaughlin was executed in January, Leonard “Raheem” Taylor was executed in February and Michael Tisius was executed on Tuesday.
Johnson was sentenced to death after being convicted in the attempted rape and murder of 6-year-old Casey Williamson in 2002 in St. Louis County.
Attorneys said in court filings that Johnson is delusional and thinks Satan is “’using’ the State of Missouri to execute him in order to bring about the end of the world and that the voice of Satan confirmed this plan to him.”
In a petition submitted to the Missouri Supreme Court last month, Johnson’s legal team argued his execution would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They requested a special master be appointed to conduct an evidentiary hearing on Johnson’s mental state.
During a psychiatric evaluation, Johnson, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 16, said he believes he is a vampire who can reanimate his organs and can learn a code to enter an animal’s mind to live after the execution.
In response, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said that a mental health assessment at Potosi Correctional Center found Johnson’s auditory hallucinations “are well managed by medication” and that he “appears to understand the nature of his upcoming execution.” He has also expressed shame about killing his friend’s daughter.
In a 6-1 decision, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that “Johnson has not demonstrated the substantial threshold showing of sanity” required by law. They also noted the claims he raised had already been heard and denied by the court on direct appeal.
Judge George Draper III dissented, but did not issue an opinion.
Larry Komp, an attorney for Johnson, said they are assessing the court’s opinion.
“We are disappointed that they made credible determinations without hearing from witnesses, which is not the role of an appellate court,” he said in a statement to The Star. “They credited an employee of the prison who saw our client for approximately an hour over a number of years, which is less time than the series finale of Ted Lasso or a third of the time to watch a single Royal’s game.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 5:56 PM.
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