A prisoner sentenced to death for the murder of his baby daughter has been denied clemency after his lawyers argued that he suffering from schizophrenzia. Benjamin Cole, 57, is set to be executed on October 20, with his legal team requesting a competency hearing that would have allowed a jury to decide if he was fit to face the death penalty.
However, their request was denied by an Oklahoma judge based on evidence provided by a psychologist, who said that offender is able understand he is being executed. Cole's representatives stated that he is a schizophrenic, with his condition likely caused by an identified brain lesion and the extreme abuse he was subjected to as a child.
As reported by the Mirror, attorney Tom Hird said Cole "simply does not have a rational understanding of why Oklahoma seeks to execute him". A Supreme Court ruling states that a death sentence cannot be enforced if a convicted person has become mentally ill. Hird added: "Benjamin Cole is incapacitated by his mental illness to the point of being essentially non-functional.
