Talk:Pedro Medina
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“Pedro Medina had a long history of serious mental illness. He was released from a psychiatric hospital in Cuba immediately before leaving that country and coming to the USA as part of the Mariel boatlift in 1980. The murder for which he was sentenced to death occurred two years later. He was diagnosed with various illnesses, including paranoid schizophrenic or major depressive disorder with psychosis. His appeal lawyers raised a claim that he was incompetent to be executed, citing detailed reports of two psychologists and one psychiatrist who concluded that Medina was insane. The appeal was summarily dismissed without a hearing.” (retreived April 23, 2006 from: http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/mentalillness/executions.php?e=42) and: January 29, 1997 --Florida Pedro Medina's repeated bizarre behavior since his arrest has cast substantial doubt on his competency to stand trial or to face execution. What is more, many people, including some who were close to the victim, have come to question his guilt. Pedro came to the United States in the Mariel boatlift 16 years ago, a teenager with a lengthy history of psychiatric disorders and disastrous scholastic performance who had just been released from a Cuban mental hospital. Two years later he was arrested for an Orlando homicide. Two state-appointed psychiatrists ruled Pedro competent to stand trial although he spoke of God sitting bodily beside him. He was sentenced to death in spite of having no prior convictions. The prosecution was only able to obtain such a result because of Pedro's mentally troubled state. The fact is that there was very little physical evidence to link him to the scene of the crime. His fingerprints were not found in the victim's apartment, and there was no blood in the car in which he allegedly left the scene. Nor was there blood on the knife that the prosecution touted as the murder weapon. Indeed, there is no question that the state's case against Pedro was weak until he bolstered it with his own behavior during trial. Pedro displayed wildly unpredictable mood swings during his pretrial confinement, and was once placed under a suicide watch. In court, Pedro maintained a steady stream of distracting outbursts and expressed frequent confusion at the proceedings. On the last day of trial, he disregarded counsel's advice and took the stand himself. In spite of this behavior, Pedro's lawyer never presented his client's history of mental illness as a mitigating factor during sentencing. Subsequent evaluations by mental health professionals have revealed paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis and depression, leading one doctor to observe that "[i]t appears that though this individual had a factual understanding of the charges against him, he lacked a rational ability to aid counsel in his defense...There is a substantial probability that this individual was incompetent to stand trial at the time his trial was held." For purely procedural reasons, the matter has never been considered on appeal. The First Presbyterian Church of Cape May has been working tirelessly on Pedro's behalf. Members are in the midst of a letter writing campaign and are gathering signatures for a petition that will be presented to the governor of Florida and distributed among the citizenry. Their efforts are fueled by their belief in Pedro's good character, and their understanding that "even some of the members of the victim's family doubt that Mr. Medina could have committed this murder." The above information is from NCADP's execution alert page (http://www.nicom.com/~ncadp1/executio) Retrieved on April 23, 2006 from: (http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/spring97/0060.html)
