|
MEDIA ADVISORY FROM FLORIDIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (FADP.org)December 6, 2002Contact: Abe Bonowitz - 561-371-5204
NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL SPEAKS OUT AGAINST THE KILLING OF LINROY BOTTOSON(see letter below.....)Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) will hold a press conference in front of the Orange County Circuit Court, 425 N. Orange Ave in downtown Orlando at 8:30am on Monday morning to address the anticipated killing of Linroy Bottoson. Following the press conference, citizens will attend and observe the 9 am hearing on Linroy Bottoson's mental competence.
The following letter to the editor was sent to various Florida newspapers this (Sunday) morning.
LETTER TO THE EDITORThe Execution of the "Insane". Should Linroy Bottoson be executed for the heinous, tortuous murder he committed on Catherine Alexander? If, in fact, he "lacks the mental capacity to understand the fact of the impending execution and the reason for it", then Florida law says he should not be executed. Governor Bush appointed three doctors who say Mr. Bottoson does have that capacity. Unfortunately, the Governor, as well as the state's prosecutors, have not released the reports issued by those doctors. Mr. Bottoson's counsel had him examined last Thursday by Dr. Xavier Amador. Among Dr. Amador's many accomplishments and credentials are that he is immediate past Director of Research, Education and Practice at the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Dr. Amador also Co-Chaired the latest revision of the "Schizophrenia and Related Disorders" section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM IV). In other words, he helped write the diagnostic manual that Florida's three doctors used to find Mr. Bottoson competent. Dr. Amador's Report finds that Mr. Bottoson is not competent and his report is available to the public at http://www.FADP.org. I am sure many of you are wondering why any of this matters. Mr. Bottoson killed Mrs. Alexander, shouldn't he receive the death penalty? But ask yourself, since the State of Florida is preparing to execute a man in your name and in the names of all the rest of the citizens of our state, don't you have the right and, and yes, even the responsibility to know if this execution is being done legally and that morally it is the right thing to do? The law states that the person who is to be executed must know that he is going to die. Linroy Bottoson is incapable of such knowledge. In fact, Mr. Bottoson is incapable of much, if any, knowledge of the real world because he does not reside in our world. This man has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia since1962. He lives in a delusion of his diseased brain. In Linroy Bottoson's world, the devil puts on plays called trials. Satan directed the trial and the actors were the jury, the attorneys, the witnesses and the judge. In Mr. Bottoson's world, he is a holy prophet of God and God will not allow him to die because he is needed to save the world from Satan's rule. This man cannot appreciate his impending death because he is too sick. He is incapable of making his peace with his maker. He is incapable of making any moral judgements about right or wrong. He is incapable of having a meaningful understanding of the crime for which he was convicted. Linroy Bottoson committed a gruesome crime and deprived a family of their mother, sister, daughter, wife. Many of us advocate for better services for those suffering from these neurobiological brain disorders so that we don't have these horrible and very preventable tragedies. Many of us, like Mrs. Alexander's family, have also lost family and friends to these illnesses. Let us not compound the problem by killing a human being who is so sick that he cannot understand why he is being killed. NAMI Florida calls on Governor Bush to commute Mr. Bottoson's death sentence to life in prison. It is the moral, the right, and the legal thing to do.
D. Michael Mathes, J.D. ****** SENT BY:
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)
 supporting and coordinating the work of organizations and
individuals educating and energizing the general public and state legislators supporting the many persons affected by capital crime and
punishment advocating specific legislative improvements
|
