Execution Report: Robert Ladd

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A jury found Ladd guilty of capital murder in August 1997 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 1999.

Ladd had previously been scheduled for execution in April 2003, but he received a stay the morning he was set to die from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The stay was issued in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision Atkins v. Virginia, which ruled that executing mentally retarded prisoners is unconstitutional.

An evidentiary hearing on Ladd's retardation claim was held in Judge Richard Schell's district court in June 2005. The chief piece of evidence was an IQ score of 67 that he received when he was tested by the Texas Youth Commission at age 13. An IQ score of 70 is often considered to be the legal threshold for mental retardation, but IQ scores are only one factor taken into account. Ladd's mother's cousin also testified that his mother drank heavily while she was pregnant with him. His sister testified that when Ladd was a child, he did not understand game concepts like suits of cards or running to first base while playing kickball.

Witnesses for the prosecution testified that Ladd's responsibilities at his job included operating an ultrasonic welding machine, a forklift, and electronic weighing scales. He was given responsibilities as a line leader and in quality control, and was able to perform them without any special assistance or supervision. A forensic psychologist testifying for the state said he examined Ladd and determined his adaptive abilities to be well within average. He placed more confidence in a subsequent IQ test Ladd took, on which he received a score of 86. Both the state and the defense's experts dismissed Ladd's most recent IQ test, on which he scored 60, because of evidence of malingering.

Judge Schell failed to make a ruling in Ladd's case for more than seven years, in which time Garner's mother had died, and her father had become ill. The victim's sister, Teresa Wooten, enlisted the aid of an attorney in the Texas attorney general's office. The attorney was taking steps to compel Schell to issue a ruling when Schell produced a 21-page opinion in February 2013. Schell found the state's evidence more persuasive and ruled that Ladd had failed to prove that he was mentally retarded. This finding was affirmed in subsequent appeals.

Wooten told a reporter that she gave the news of Schell's decision to her father the day it was issued, and he died the following morning.

Ladd did not accept requests for interviews from media outlets while on death row, but he did answer a request for correspondence from Gawker.com, a media blog site that has posted correspondence from other death row prisoners. Ladd wrote a letter recapping the evidence of his retardation that was presented at his 2005 hearing, such as "I was given a hearing where I put on even more evidence like my sister telling the court about when we was child how I had a hard time playing games like kick ball and how our mother would send me to the store and I would come back with the wrong items." Ladd also recapped the denials of his appeal in Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court and his attempt to secure a different lawyer. He did not address anything relating to the crime or his victim. At the bottom of his letter, Ladd added, "I had help with writing this."

Ladd's execution was delayed for about a half an hour. News reports did not explain why, but such delays are usually from waiting for last-minute rulings on appeals.

Ladd addressed Wooten by name in his final statement at his execution. "I am really, really sorry," he said. "Please don't have hate in your heart. I really feel like this. I hope you can find peace in your heart and happiness. A revenge death won't get you anything." Ladd also told his sister that he loved her. He then told the warden, "Let's ride." The lethal injection was then started. Ladd then said, "Stings my arm, man!" He was pronounced dead at 7:02 p.m.

Wooten told a reporter afterward that the evening was an occasion to celebrate Vicki Garner's life, not Ladd's death. "We hate the sin he committed. We hate the deed he committed," she said. "But at the end of his life, we no longer hated the man and have sympathy for his family."

Garner's other sister, Kathy Pirtle, said, "We can remember Vicki now without this specter hanging over our heads. It does not give closure or make up for anything, but it does close a chapter of Vicki's life."

By David Carson. Posted on 30 January 2015.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune, Tyler Morning Telegraph, gawker.com.