AUSTIN, Texas, July 1 (UPI) -- The Texas Court of Appeals stayed the execution of Jonathan M. Green hours before he was to get a lethal injection, saying it wanted to review his mental state.
The state's highest court for criminal matters stopped the convicted killer's execution after a phone conference, issuing orders indicating it was uncertain about a review of Green's mental competency, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.
The court issued two orders, the Chronicle said. In one, the court asked attorneys to file briefs addressing whether Green's claim properly can be pursued in the habeas corpus petition filed this week on his behalf. A second order asks the district court judge who denied his incompetency claim to clarify the standards applied in denying the claim.
Green, 42, was sentenced to die for the June 2000 rape and murder of a 12-year-old Montgomery County girl. Court papers indicate Green is schizophrenic and is not medicated. His attorney said Green's mental state deteriorated to the point where he doesn't meet the legal criteria for execution.
