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American Morning
Execution of Mentally Ill Man Scheduled Today
Aired January 06, 2004 - 08:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Two death row inmates are scheduled to die tonight in Arkansas. Inmate Karl Roberts has not pursued any appeals and says he wants to die. Governor Mike Huckabee is expected to make a final decision this afternoon on a clemency request for Charles Singleton. He is mentally ill but could still be executed, according to his lawyer.
That and more now from CNN's Brian Cabell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer Charles Singleton faces execution today, even though he seems to border on insanity.
(on camera): Have you ever heard voices in your cell?
CHARLES SINGLETON, DEATH ROW INMATE: Yes.
CABELL: What kind of voices?
SINGLETON: A few.
CABELL: What are they saying?
SINGLETON: Well, they talk about, for example, let's hold and then see when his father come. We heard him and his father. And they talk about a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and finding a way to kill me.
CABELL: Although Singleton is mentally ill -- even Arkansas officials concede that -- he does understand he's going to be executed and why. That's enough under current law to put him to death. There's one catch, though. He is rational only when on medication.
JEFF ROSENZWEIG, SINGLETON'S ATTORNEY: When he is off his medication, he eventually loses a lot of weight, stops eating, completely loses all control of his hygiene and essentially goes into wild gesticulations and...
CABELL (on camera): What does he talk about?
ROSENZWEIG: Just whatever word salad pops into his head.
CABELL (voice-over): Twenty-four years ago, Singleton walked into a tiny grocery store, stole some petty cash and stabbed the owner, Mary Lou York, to death. She identified him before she died and Singleton, only 20 at the time, was convicted and sent off to death row. But as the years passed, his mind deteriorated. Officials at first forcibly medicated him to ease the symptoms, but now his treatment is voluntary.
The victim's son, Charles York, says the insanity question is just a ploy.
CHARLES YORK, VICTIM'S SON: I don't believe it. It's just something that they used to just prolong things, to keep it in the court system.
CABELL: But barring a last minute surprise, the Singleton case ends tonight when he's scheduled to die by lethal injection.
Brian Cabell, CNN, Varner, Arkansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Death penalty opponents plan to protest tonight's scheduled execution.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 6, 2004 - 08:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Two death row inmates are scheduled to die tonight in Arkansas. Inmate Karl Roberts has not pursued any appeals and says he wants to die. Governor Mike Huckabee is expected to make a final decision this afternoon on a clemency request for Charles Singleton. He is mentally ill but could still be executed, according to his lawyer.
That and more now from CNN's Brian Cabell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer Charles Singleton faces execution today, even though he seems to border on insanity.
(on camera): Have you ever heard voices in your cell?
CHARLES SINGLETON, DEATH ROW INMATE: Yes.
CABELL: What kind of voices?
SINGLETON: A few.
CABELL: What are they saying?
SINGLETON: Well, they talk about, for example, let's hold and then see when his father come. We heard him and his father. And they talk about a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and finding a way to kill me.
CABELL: Although Singleton is mentally ill -- even Arkansas officials concede that -- he does understand he's going to be executed and why. That's enough under current law to put him to death. There's one catch, though. He is rational only when on medication.
JEFF ROSENZWEIG, SINGLETON'S ATTORNEY: When he is off his medication, he eventually loses a lot of weight, stops eating, completely loses all control of his hygiene and essentially goes into wild gesticulations and...
CABELL (on camera): What does he talk about?
ROSENZWEIG: Just whatever word salad pops into his head.
CABELL (voice-over): Twenty-four years ago, Singleton walked into a tiny grocery store, stole some petty cash and stabbed the owner, Mary Lou York, to death. She identified him before she died and Singleton, only 20 at the time, was convicted and sent off to death row. But as the years passed, his mind deteriorated. Officials at first forcibly medicated him to ease the symptoms, but now his treatment is voluntary.
The victim's son, Charles York, says the insanity question is just a ploy.
CHARLES YORK, VICTIM'S SON: I don't believe it. It's just something that they used to just prolong things, to keep it in the court system.
CABELL: But barring a last minute surprise, the Singleton case ends tonight when he's scheduled to die by lethal injection.
Brian Cabell, CNN, Varner, Arkansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Death penalty opponents plan to protest tonight's scheduled execution.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
