Judge orders mental evaluation of death row inmate Dansby

By LISA BOSE McDERMOTT
Texarkana Gazette

A condemned Arkansas man and his lawyers got what they
asked for.

U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes on Thursday
ordered a mental examination for Joe Louis Dansby, who
sits on Arkansas' death row for the May 16, 1992,
killings of Jeff Lewis, 23, and Malissa Clark, 21,
both of Prescott.

Dansby's lawyers contend that he is mentally retarded.
For two years, they have been seeking a mental
examination.

"The court finds that these matters are ripe for
consideration," according to the court order filed in
federal district court in Texarkana, Ark., where
Dansby's first round of federal appeals is being
litigated.

Dansby, 51, was convicted in Miller County Circuit
Court in 1997 of the murders. The two victims were
found shot to death near a logging road in Nevada
County. The couple had failed to return home from an
outing the previous night.

After exhausting state appeals, Dansby filed appeals
in federal court and a federal judge stayed his
execution, pending the outcome of the appeals.

Dansby's lawyers say their client may be mentally
retarded and they have asked the court to order tests
to determine his mental condition.

The U.S. Supreme Court prohibits the execution of
mentally retarded people, saying it would amount to
cruel and unusual punishment.

Barnes' decision had been delayed because he was
waiting to see how the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals would rule on similar cases that would have
had an impact on the Dansby case.


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