HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The execution of a Texas man, Edward Busby, who has been identified by experts on both sides as intellectually disabled, proceeded as planned on Thursday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay. This execution marks the 600th in Texas since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1982.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously issued a stay to review Busby’s intellectual disability claims. However, the U.S. Supreme Court, at the request of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, overturned this stay. Notably, three Supreme Court Justices, including Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, opposed this decision.
Justice Jackson expressed her dissent, writing, “In capital cases, we rarely intervene to preserve life. I cannot understand the Court’s rush to extinguish it, much less in the circumstances of this case.” Despite a subsequent appeal to the 5th Circuit by Busby’s lawyers, it was denied.
Intellectual Disability and the Supreme Court
In 2002, the Supreme Court prohibited the execution of intellectually disabled individuals, but it allowed states to define criteria for such disabilities. Busby was set to be executed for the 2004 suffocation of 77-year-old Laura Lee Crane, a retired professor. During his transport to Huntsville, Busby was described as quiet and prayerful.
Both defense and prosecution experts have asserted Busby’s intellectual disability. Despite the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office recommending life imprisonment, the trial judge upheld the death penalty in 2023. The DA’s office justified the execution date, stating, “under current case law, we believe Mr. Busby is not intellectually disabled.”
The Texas Attorney General’s Office argued against Busby’s claims, labeling them as “meritless” due to “conflicting evidence” and contending that they were “time barred” following previous rejections.
The Supreme Court had recently reviewed an Alabama case that might impact how courts assess intellectual disability through cumulative IQ scores. The 5th Circuit’s Judge James Graves Jr. noted the medical consensus on Busby’s disability, indicating he should be ineligible for execution.
The Crime and Legal Proceedings
According to prosecutors, Busby and Kathleen Latimer abducted Crane from a Fort Worth grocery store, placing her in her car’s trunk, where she died from suffocation due to duct tape over her face. Busby was apprehended in Oklahoma City with Crane’s car and later led authorities to her body.
Busby claimed that Latimer pushed him into the crime, insisting he “never meant for her to get hurt or anything.” Latimer is serving a life sentence. If carried out, Busby’s execution would be Texas’s fourth this year and the nation’s 12th. Texas leads the U.S. in executions.
Earlier, Oklahoma executed Raymond Johnson for a double murder. Abraham Bonowitz from Death Penalty Action criticized the handling of Busby’s case, questioning the fairness of the process.
For additional details on the case and related stories, visit AP News.
