Court Opinions: Court of Criminal Appeals Says Andre Thomas May Be "Crazy" (Duh) But He's Sane Enough for Death

Warning – this is gruesome stuff here….

Andre Thomas is 26 years old, and he’s living on Texas’ Death Row for the killing of his wife’s 13-month old daughter. His wife and their 4 year old son were also murdered by Andre during this violence.

Each victim was stabbed and then their hearts were ripped from their bodies.

That’s horrific.

Andre did these horrible things, went home and stabbed himself three times in the chest, and then reportedly – somehow – walked into the Sherman Police Department, told the police what he had done, and said God had told him to do it.

And, yes, mental illness does run through Andre’s family.

At trial, it was revealed that several members of his family heard voices and had hallucinations – but they considered these to be “gifts” and that they were hearing from God.

Plucks Out One Eye, Eats the Other: Who Can Argue Against Insanity?

Five days after his arrest, while setting in the Grayson County jail, Andre plucked out his right eye. Yes, you read that right. Think about that.

Then, several months ago, Andre Thomas, now confined to Death Row, removed his only remaining eye and ate it. That’s right. Ate it.

That’s horrific, too. And, creepily there seems to be some insane connection in his mind to the removal of body parts. It just seems obvious that this guy is severely mentally ill, right?

The Court of Criminal Appeals Still Finds a Way to Keep Andre on Death Row

Well, the Court of Criminal Appeals agrees with that. In her concurring statement on whether or not Andre Thomas should be spared the death penalty, the high court’s Justice Cochran opined that Andre was “crazy” but — get this — he’s still sane under state law and therefore, his appeal was denied. (Read her statement in full, at the link below.)

It was a unanimous decision. In an unpublished opinion.

No wonder this court is getting the kind of media coverage it’s getting, with words like “bias” being used.

Crazy. Indeed.

For more on this court, go read the earlier post on Justice Keller’s impending trial and possible impeachment (link below) — it’s the same group of judges.

You gotta wonder — if Andre’s not crazy under Texas law, then who the heck IS?

Sources:

March Order (per curiam)
http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/OPINIONS/PDFOPINIONINFO2.ASP?OPINIONID=18129&FILENAME=WR-69,859-01 ORI.PDF

Justice Cochran’s Statement
http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/OPINIONS/HTMLOPINIONINFO.ASP?OPINIONID=18123

October 2008 Opinion
http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/OPINIONS/HTMLOPINIONINFO.ASP?OPINIONID=17509

UPI
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/18/Blind_killers_appeal_denied_in_Texas/UPI-36251237426590/

KTEN.Com
http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=10031519

Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Andre Thomas Info
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/thomasandre.htm

Dallas Criminal Lawyer Blog — Justice Keller Indictment
http://dallaslawyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/20-minutes-and-2-phone-calls-may-be.html