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Jone’s former attorney still fighting his executionJESSICA SAUNDERSThe Associated PressMONTGOMERY, Ala. — Death-row inmate Pernell Ford has given up fighting for his life, which is scheduled to end at 12:01 a.m. Friday for the 1983 slashing deaths of a Jacksonville mother and daughter. But his former attorney hasn’t quit.LaJuana Davis filed a motion Tuesday with a federal appeals court in Atlanta, asking it to find him incompetent to make the decision to die. Miss Davis contends her 33-year-old former client suffers from severe depression and schizophrenia and their effects have prompted him to withdraw appeals previously.“However, when his mental condition stabilized, he has resumed his appeals,” she said inthe motion. “Mr. Ford's decision’ to waive his appeals is being driven by mental illness.”Various court-appointed psychiatrists found Ford competent during the appeals process.Ford was convicted of killing Willie C. Griffith, 74, and her daughter, Linda Gail Griffith, 42, on Dec. 2, 1983, at their home in Jacksonville. At the time, he wasProsecutors said Ford admitted to police that he broke into the house to rob the women, but he surprised Linda Griffith and stabbed her when she tried to prevent him from leaving. Willie Griffith watched her daughter die, prosecutors said, then the killer turned on her. She suffered from arthritis and needed a walker to get around.Ford was stopped for speeding nearSpringfield, III., the day after the killings, whiledriving Linda Griffith’s car. Blood stains were found on his shoes, socks, pants and shirt, which later were matched to the victims, prosecutors said. In the car, investigators found a .38-caliber pistol, credit cards, purses, a gold necklace, a coupon file, a key ring and other possessions belonging to the Griffiths.Ford was convicted and sentenced to death in June 1984. He has been on death row at Holman Prison near Atmore for more thanwith Ford there today.Ford told a federal judge lastyear that he was tired of waiting for his date with the electric chair, and that he wanted to “go on and be with the Creator.” He also asked to fire Miss Davis as his attorney.The U.S. District Court in Birmingham granted bothmotions. Miss Davis was unable to get the court to reinstate her, but it ruled Thursday she could appeal the competency issue to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.The motion Miss Davis filed said Ford has been treated for psychiatric disorders since age 7, and has attempted suicide several times. He has taken anti psychotic drugs such as Thorazine and Haldol since early adolescence, it said.But the attorney general’s office, responding to the motion, said several psychiatrists who examined Ford prior to the trial found he had antisocial personality disorder but was not delusional. The doctors also suggested Ford was faking mental illness, prosecutors said.Ford was allowed to represent himself at trial, and did not put on a defense or question state witnesses. He frequently referred to himself as an emissary from God,and carried an open Bible, sometimes thrusting it at the jury. During his closing statement, he wore a sheet taken from his prison cell.Calhoun County District Attorney Joe Hubbard, who prose cuted Ford, said he felt the bizarre behavior was a ploy by the defendant“I’ve never felt at any point that I’ve been in touch with Pernell Ford that he’s been out of touch with reality,” Hubbard said Tuesday.The attorney general’s office agreed in the documents filed with the 11th Circuit saying psychiatric examinations since Ford’s conviction also have found no evidence of mental illness. They said a psychiatrist suggested by Miss Davis, Dr. Robert Rollins, last year deemed Ford mentally able to waive his appeals and dismiss his attorney.The competency issue is the only one Miss Davis is permitted to raise on his behalf as she is no longer his lawyer.“If Mr. Ford is found competent at the 11th Circuit, that will be that,” she said.Fbrd’s family can ask Gov. Don Siegelman for clemency, but that is rarely given. Miss Davis said they would decide whether to request clemency after the 11th Circuit makes its decision.She didn’t know whether Ford’s parents, who now live out of state.18 and a high school dropout.14 years. Miss Davis, who works for the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, planned to meetwww.newsherald.comJones
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Panama City News Herald
Panama City, Florida, US
Thu, Jul 08, 1999
Page 16
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