Convicted killer asks U.S. Supreme Court to halt execution due to brain damage

Cecil Clayton&#039;s brain scan. — (Image credit: Twitter.com/TracyConnor)

A Missouri man scheduled to be put to death on Tuesday is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution, saying that because part of his brain is missing following an accident, he suffers from mental illness and intellectual disability.

Cecil Clayton, 74, was sentenced to death for shooting and killing a sheriff's deputy in 1996 while the deputy responded to a domestic disturbance call, NBC News reports. Clayton was injured in a sawmill accident in 1972, when a piece of wood went into his skull; doctors had to remove one-fifth of his frontal lobe, or a little less than 8 percent of his brain. Clayton's attorneys say that the surgery turned Clayton suicidal, paranoid, and depressed, and he became an alcoholic prone to violent outbursts.

Missouri's highest court ruled against Clayton, 4-3, over the weekend, saying that because he understood why he was sentenced to death, he is competent for execution. Three judges disagreed, writing in a dissent, "The majority's decision to proceed with the execution at this time and in these circumstances violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.