Raymond Riles was sentenced to death in 1976 for a gun murder, and then set himself on fire several times in prison.
But now Texas’ oldest prisoner can not be executed as his sentence does not stand because he had not considered his mental illness, an appeals court ruled yesterday.
Raymond Riles has been imprisoned since 1976 when he brutally shot and killed John Thomas Henry after an ordinary conflict.
Psychologists and psychiatrists ruled in Riles’ favor saying he is in a psychotic state and suffers from schizophrenia, both now and at the time of the murder.
Although the date of his execution was set several times, officials were unable to carry it out as the prisoner was mentally incompetent to be executed.
One of his lawyers, Jim Marcus, said: “In Texas, people are left to suffer in the Polunsky (death row) unit, where conditions are just solitary confinement.”
Riles’ accomplice, Herbert Washington, was also initially sentenced to death for the crime but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Judge Kim Ogg said: “We are delighted that the Texas Supreme Court did not challenge the decision, as the criminal mental illness precedents appear to be considered and the sentence converted to life imprisonment.”
