Texas Execution: US Supreme Court Refuses To Block Execution Of Jonathan Green

The US Supreme Court refused to a last minute appeal by Jonathan Green, allowing the Texas man’s execution to go through late Wednesday night.

Green, 44, was found guilty of raping and murdering 12-year-old Christina Neal more than 10 years ago, reports The Los Angeles Times.

The Texas man was originally scheduled for execution on June 30, 2010, but it was successfully appealed for a stay by his attorneys, and again on Monday. Green’s attorneys argued that the man was a schizophrenic who did not receive due process during his trial.

The Texas attorney general’s office prevailed against Green’s attorneys in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday one day after they won in the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The Court of Appeals overturned the stay, saying Green showed he understood why he was being executed.

The Supreme Court has already established that mental illness is not an automatic disqualifier for execution, as long as the person fully understands the punishment and why it is being given to them.

ABC News notes that the Texas man was executed last Wednesday night through lethal injection close to midnight. When the warden asked if he had anything to say from his death chamber gurney, Jonathan Green first stated, “No,” But changed his mind seconds later, saying:

“I’m an innocent man. I never killed anyone. Y’all are killing an innocent man.”

Eighteen minutes after the execution began, Green was pronounced dead at 10:45 pm. Christina Neal’s parents were present for the Texas execution of the man who was convicted of killing their daughter. Her body was found at Green’s home in 2000, about one month after she went missing.

Jonathan Green’s execution is the 10th in Texas so far this year and the first of four that are scheduled for October in the nation’s most active death penalty state.