Outcome: We have sad news regarding the situation of Joseph Corcoran. He was executed in Indiana in the early hours of 18 December 2024. He was convicted in 1999 of the murder of four men in 1997 and sentenced to death. He had long been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, with symptoms that include hallucinations and delusions. Final appeals were rejected and the governor declined to intervene.
Joseph Corcoran is scheduled to be executed in Indiana on December 18, 2024. He was convicted in 1999 of the murder of four men in 1997, including his brother and future brother-in-law, and sentenced to death. He has long been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, with symptoms that include hallucinations and delusions.
In 2002, Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker wrote that “Corcoran is obviously severely mentally ill”. In 2003, three experts testified that Joseph Corcoran had paranoid schizophrenia, with symptoms including delusions and hallucinations that explained his decision to waive his appeals.
International law and standards prohibit the use of the death penalty on those with mental (psychosocial disabilities) who have limited ability to defend themselves on an equal basis with others, including due to lack of procedural accommodation.
We are calling on the Governor to stop his execution and to ensure that his death sentence is commuted.
Indiana accounts for 20 of the USA’s 1,605 executions since 1976. There have been 23 executions in the USA this year. This would be Indiana’s first execution since December 11, 2009. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases unconditionally.
Please take action by December 18, 2024.
Dear Governor,
I am writing to urge you to stop the execution of Joseph Corcoran, scheduled for December 18, 2024.
Diagnoses that Joseph Corcoran has paranoid schizophrenia were first made in 1999. In 2002, Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker wrote that “Corcoran is obviously severely mentally ill”. In 2005, Justice Rucker pointed out this had “developed into full-blown paranoid schizophrenia.”
In 2003, Joseph Corcoran had refused to sign his post-conviction petition because he sought to waive review and to be executed. The post-conviction court rejected the unsigned application and held a hearing on his competence to waive appeals. Three experts testified that Joseph Corcoran had paranoid schizophrenia, with symptoms including delusions and hallucinations that explained his decision to waive his appeals.
In 2005, Joseph Corcoran signed a petition for post-conviction review, but was deemed to have missed the deadline. His lawyers are seeking to have this order vacated and his petition reinstated, arguing that the “legal landscape” around “timeliness” in Indiana has since changed, and that this should apply retroactively in a case of a man facing execution whose mental disability had “severely interfered with his ability” to sign his petition in timely fashion. International law and standards prohibit the use of the death penalty on those with mental (psychosocial disabilities) who have limited ability to defend themselves on an equal basis with others, including due to lack of procedural accommodation.
You are not bound by the legal rules and procedures faced by courts. I urge you to choose fairness over finality, to prevent Joseph Corcoran’s execution, and to commute his death sentence.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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