Chapter 1. When Treatment Leads to Execution: Mental...

Short Description

Ten years ago, Claude was sentenced to death for the brutal murder of a 16-year-old boy. While he awaited execution, the court appointed attorney Carla Ryan to handle his appeal. Questioning Claude's sanity, she asked the court for a psychiatric evaluation of her client.

Long Description

Both the doctor that Carla selected and the one chosen by the state found that the death-row inmate was not competent. Thus the court, unable to execute Claude, sent him to the state hospital where chief psychiatrist Jerry Dennis diagnosed him as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Claude could only be executed if he recovered from the disorder. His treatment was the responsibility of Dr. Dennis, who had taken the Hippocratic oath promising to do no harm. Furthermore, if he medicated Claude he would have violated the American Medical Association's code of ethics, which states physicians should not treat patients to restore their competence so that they can be executed. Dr. Dennis placed Claude on a low dose of medication, which would alleviate his suffering but not restore his competence. Arizona's Attorney General sought another doctor to treat Claude. Nelson Bennett, a psychiatrist from Georgia, was brought onto the case to answer the question of whether Claude was suffering and thus could be treated. Instead of answering that question, Bennett found him competent. The judgment nullified the diagnoses of four other psychiatrists. Although the matter is now out of Dr. Dennis's hands, he worries that Claude may be put to death even though he is not competent and has no idea of what it means to be executed. Carla Ryan's effort to get Claude's sentence changed to life imprisonment failed. If necessary, she intends to appeal his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

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