AccessNorthGeorgia.Com

"Georgia Executes Man for 1975 Murder of Topless Dancer." (Associated Press November 4, 2003)

James Willie Brown was executed Tuesday for the 1975 rape of a topless dancer while she suffocated on her panties. Brown, 55, was pronounced dead at 8:32 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson, south of Atlanta. It was the state's 11th execution by injection.

Browns guilt was not in doubt, but his lawyers argued he was insane and should have been resentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Brown was asked whether he wanted to make a final statement, but he merely shook his head no. When asked whether he wanted a final prayer, Brown again shook his head no. Then, as the drugs were pumped into his body, Brown twitched slightly and moved his head back and forth. He then took a few deep final breaths, his cheeks puffing from the effort, then was still. All his reactions were similar to others who have been executed by injection. Wardens said Brown ate all of his last meal, a foot-long chili dog with everything, French fries, a dill pickle, strawberry ice cream and a 7-Up drink.

Brown was executed after decades of appeals and retrials were turned away by the courts. He was sentenced to death in two separate jury trials, and he was originally set to be executed a year ago until a judge delayed it hours before it was to take place.

Brown raped Watson while she suffocated on her panties. They had been forced so far down her throat that they werent found until the autopsy. Brown and Watson ate a takeout dinner of steak and potatoes at the Mark Inn Lounge in Gwinnett County on May 12, 1975. They danced and drank for a few hours, and then they left together shortly before midnight. Watsons body was found the next day in the woods. She had been tied up with nylon cord and was mostly naked.

Brown's lawyers argued he is a paranoid schizophrenic who should have never been sentenced to death. They say the death penalty was based on the lies of a witness who has since come clean.

Brown was the 34th man executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. He was the 11th inmate to be executed by injection.

ProDeathPenalty.com

At approximately 8:30 p.m. of May 12, 1975, James Brown and Brenda Watson arrived at the Mark Inn lounge in Gwinnett County. They ate a carryout steak and potato dinner that they had brought with them and spent several hours drinking and dancing. They left together at approximately 11:00 p.m.

Brenda Watson’s body was found the next day near a trash pile close to an old logging road in a heavily wooded area some 500 feet off Deshon Road in Gwinnett County. A cord was tied around her left ankle, and she had indentations on her wrists and her right ankle which could indicate she had been tied there also. She was nude except for a blue terrycloth blouse which was pulled up over her breasts. A pair of panties had been forced so far down her throat that they were not discovered until the autopsy. Warren Tillman of the State Crime Lab testified that Brenda Watson’s death was caused by suffocation from the panties in her throat. He discovered seminal fluid and sperm in Brenda’s throat and vagina. From abrasions and contusions around the victim’s vagina, Tillman concluded that she had been raped and that this had occurred before her death. An undigested meal of steak and potatoes was found in the her stomach. Since a meal is usually digested within 4 hours, Tillman estimated that Brenda died no later than 4:00 a.m.

James Brown was arrested May 15. Nylon cord found in his car was identical to that tied around Brenda’s left ankle. A hairbrush found in Brown’s car contained hair similar in color and medulation to the victim’s hair. Brown was questioned May 16. He initially denied knowing Brenda Watson. Upon being informed that he had been seen with her the night before her body had been discovered, he admitted that he and Brenda had gone to the Mark Inn for drinks, but claimed that afterwards they went to a lounge off Covington Highway, where he left her. Later he stated that when they left the Mark Inn, Brenda suggested they go to a quiet place in the country. Brown took her to a secluded spot off Deshon Road. When he did, she told him that if he didn’t pay her $200 she was going to call the police and claim he had tried to rape her. Brown’s response was to tie her up and gag her. Then he decided he might as well have sexual intercourse with her. So he did. On his way home he discovered that her pocketbook was still in his car. He stopped at a bridge on Killian Hill Road and threw the pocketbook into the Yellow River. Brenda was the third woman Brown had attacked, but the other two were fortunate enough to have escaped with their lives.

AccessNorthGeorgia.Com

"Topless Dancer Killer to be Put to Death." (Associated Press November 4, 2003)

ATLANTA - A man who tied up a topless dancer, raped her and left her dead body next to a trash pile in 1975 is scheduled to be executed by injection Tuesday night.

James Willie Brown, 55, had a few last-minute appeals pending, but one of them was denied Tuesday afternoon by U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester. Browns attorneys had argued that his sentence should be changed to life imprisonment without parole because a witness lied at his trial. The witness, Anita Jean Tucker, testified that Brown may have been faking his mental illness, but she later recanted.

Forrester denied those claims in his order. Petitioner has not shown by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Tucker provided false testimony, ... the state of Georgia was aware that Ms. Tucker committed perjury, or Ms. Tuckers allegedly false testimony was material, Forrester wrote. Browns attorneys also appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Brown raped Brenda Sue Watson while she suffocated on her panties. They had been forced so far down her throat that they werent found until the autopsy. Brown and Watson ate a takeout dinner of steak and potatoes at the Mark Inn Lounge in Gwinnett County on May 12, 1975. They danced and drank for a few hours, and then they left together shortly before midnight. Watsons body was found the next day in the woods. She had been tied up with nylon cord and was mostly naked.

Browns lawyers argued he is a paranoid schizophrenic who should have never been sentenced to death. They say the death penalty was based on the lies of a witness who has since come clean. The state presented false testimony to get a sentence of death, and in the United States, that shouldnt happen, said defense attorney Tom Dunn on Tuesday.

But even if Brown is mentally ill, he should still be put to death, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, who prosecuted Brown at his second trial in 1990. He's probably mentally ill, but he's not mentally ill to the extent that would legally excuse him for the responsibility for his act.

In preparation for his execution, Brown requested a last meal of a foot-long chili dog with everything, French fries, a dill pickle, strawberry ice cream and a soft drink. Brown would be the 33rd man executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. Hell be the 11th inmate to be executed by injection.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

James Willie Brown, Georgia Nov. 4

The state of Georgia is scheduled to execute James Willie Brown, a white man, Nov. 4 for the 1975 rape and murder of Brenda Sue Watson. This case represents a textbook example of why people with severe mental illness should not be eligible for the death penalty. Mr. Brown had a horrific childhood, has been repeatedly diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia, and was further victimized by the prosecution at trial, who introduced false testimony.

James Willie Brown was sexually abused as a child by his uncle, and regularly beaten and kicked by his father with fists, belts, branches and cords. Several times he was beaten to the point of unconsciousness. He began having headaches and blackouts at 14, and was diagnosed with convulsive disorder and medicated at 15. At 17, Mr. Brown joined the army, to be discharged less than two years later for mental illness.

He was arrested in 1968 for drug use, but was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was arrested in 1975 for the murder of Miss Watson and was again found incompetent, meaning that he lacked the capacity to fully understand proceedings and participate in his defense. He was committed to a state mental institution until 1981 when he was found competent to stand trial. From the time of his first arrest until his trial, Mr. Brown had spent 70 percent of that time in mental facilities on both a voluntary and involuntary basis.

In 1988, his death sentence was overturned because of his mental illness. In 1991 Mr. Brown was retried and again sentenced to death, largely based on testimony from a police officer and a former inmate that he was faking his illness. Mr. Brown has been diagnosed 17 times with severe paranoid schizophrenia; he has also been diagnosed by 25 state mental health experts who have found that he is not “faking” his mental illness.

In 2002, Anita Tucker, who testified in two trials that Mr. Brown had coached her in faking mental illness, came forward with the truth. The prosecution had promised to support her early parole from a murder conviction if she would assist them in their case. The appellate court found that Ms. Tucker’s testimony, even if false, resulted in no harm. The victim’s family and the jurors from Mr. Brown’s trial joined the defense in petitioning the parole board to overturn his death sentence.

James Brown has suffered poverty, deprivation and abuse his entire life. He suffers from severe mental illness. Several times the state has found him to be incapacitated by this illness. Please contact Gov. Sonny Perdue and urge him to stand on the side of justice and commute Mr. Brown’s sentence.

Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (Brown Background)

USA (Georgia) James Willie Brown (m), white, aged 55

James Willie Brown is scheduled for execution in Georgia on 4 November. He was sentenced to death at a retrial in 1990 for the rape and murder of Brenda Watson in 1975. He has a clemency hearing in front of the state parole board on 31 October. It is not known when the board will make its decision.

James Brown has a long history of mental illness, which has included repeated diagnoses of schizophrenia. At the age of 15, he was diagnosed as suffering from convulsive disorder and prescribed medication to control his seizures. By the age of 17 he had entered the army but served less than two years before eventually being discharged due to his mental illness. As his situation deteriorated, he began to use illegal drugs, and was arrested for the first time in 1968, when he was about 20 years old. He was deemed incompetent to stand trial; that is, that he lacked the mental capacity to fully understand the proceedings or assist in his defence. He was therefore sent to a state mental facility. Between the time of his first arrest and his 1981 trial for the murder of Brenda Watson, he was in mental facilities for 70 per cent of the time, both on an involuntary and voluntary basis.

His trial for murder was delayed for six years on the grounds of mental incompetence. He was eventually tried and sentenced to death in 1981, but was granted a new trial by a federal court in 1988 due to doubts over his competency to stand trial in 1981. He was retried in 1990, and again sentenced to death.

At the retrial, the defence presented two experts who testified that James Brown suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia. In a subsequent affidavit, given in 1994, one of these experts stated: “Mr Brown’s medical history establishes that his mental illness was of a long standing nature... From Mr Brown’s post-arrest hospitalization in June 1975 until shortly before his original trial in January 1981, Mr Brown was under almost constant supervision by mental health professionals at Central State Hospital.” The affidavit continues: “Considering the type of illness, his extensive medical history and my examination of Mr Brown, it was my opinion to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Mr Brown was psychotic at the time of the alleged offense and that he acted upon delusions and therefore, could not distinguish between right and wrong at the time. Based upon my recent review of the additional materials, I stand by my original diagnosis and this opinion.” In addition, two inmates who were in the county jail at the time of James Brown’s arrest gave post-conviction affidavits that describe how he was out of touch with reality and psychotic.

The state’s position at the 1990 retrial, however, was that James Brown was faking his mental illness. It presented a doctor who stated that, in his opinion, the defendant did not have schizophrenia, but had suffered drug-induced flashbacks. This doctor appears to have ignored James Brown’s long history and repeated diagnoses of mental illness (over the years more than 25 mental health experts employed by the state have found James Brown to be mentally ill and not malingering). Moreover, in closing arguments, the prosecutor stated to the jury: “That brings us to the question that [the defence lawyer] wanted you to consider, should we put the mentally ill to death. Well, I don’t know the answer to that question... And you don’t have to decide that question in this case. Because, ladies and gentlemen, this man isn’t mentally ill, he has never been mentally ill, and he is not mentally ill today. He was not mentally ill on the [day of the crime].”

To bolster the state’s theory that the defendant was malingering, the prosecution presented a former inmate, Anita Tucker, who said that James Brown had confided in her that he was faking his illness. Anita Tucker has now recanted that testimony, and testified that her earlier testimony was part of a deal with the prosecution in exchange for her early release on her own criminal charges.

Like many on death row in the USA, James Willie Brown comes from a background of poverty, deprivation and serious abuse. According to a 1994 affidavit given by a clinical psychologist, James Brown was born in 1948 to a 15-year-old mother and an alcoholic father. Theirs was one of the poorest families in a low-income neighbourhood. The children were subjected to routine physical abuse, principally by the father. According to the psychologist: “Instruments of abuse included belts, boards, branches, cords, and fists, and the children were also kicked. In addition to beatings of the children, the father also often brutally beat the mother with his fists in front of the children. When [James Brown] attempted to aid his mother while she was being beaten, he only earned himself yet another beating from his father... According to [James Brown], his brothers and his mother, the father’s beatings were extremely severe, leaving welts, drawing blood, and even, in [his] case, causing unconsciousness. The father not only beat [him] at home but also did so in public, in front of friends and family, and [James Brown] reports that the father appeared to take great pride and pleasure in humiliating him like this.”

The United Nations Commission for Human Rights has repeatedly passed resolutions calling for an end to the use of the death penalty against anyone with any form of mental disorder. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally. While 112 countries are abolitionist in law or practice, the USA has put 878 prisoners to death since resuming executions in 1977, including 58 this year.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language, in your own words:

- expressing sympathy for the family and friends of Brenda Watson, and explaining that you are not seeking to condone the manner of her death or to minimize the suffering caused;

- noting that James Willie Brown has a long history of serious mental illness stemming long before the crime, and that his illness has been recognized by the state on numerous occasions, including when he was in the military and the state hospital;

- expressing concern that the prosecution argued to the jury that he had never been mentally ill, and noting that the former inmate who testified at trial that James Willie Brown was faking his mental illness has since recanted her testimony;

- urging clemency for James Willie Brown in the interest of decency and the reputation of Georgia.

More Background (from legal team)

James Willie Brown suffered from major mental illness at the time of the offense for which he is scheduled to be executed on November 19, 2002. He was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Brenda Watson in 1975. Mr. Brown has been diagnosed as being a paranoid schizophrenic, a mental illness he has suffered from for the majority of his life. Mr. Brown’s illness caused him to hear the voices of God and demons directing his actions, to experience hallucinations, and to have bizarre beliefs that people were trying to kill him. He has been diagnosed by ten different state doctors as being schizophrenic, paranoid type. From 1975 through 1989, these state doctors diagnosed Mr. Brown as being a paranoid schizophrenic seventeen separate times. The family of Brenda Watson, the victim in this case, supports clemency for James Willie Brown.

Paranoid schizophrenia, recognized by experts as one of the most crippling and devastating thought disorders in psychiatry, evolved in Mr. Brown’s case from a childhood marked by incomprehensible abuse. In spite of the fact that Mr. Brown’s history was well documented in hospital records, the jury which sentenced him to death in 1991 heard little detail of Mr. Brown’s background. Moreover, the jury was told that Mr. Brown was not mentally ill, but faking it, and that any hallucinations were the effects of his own behavior in taking drugs. This was not true.

Mr. Brown has nearly exhausted all remaining avenues of judicial relief and his fate will soon rest with the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which will meet to consider his case on Friday, November 15, 2002. His execution would be contrary to American standards of justice, fairness, and decency. This is a call for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison.

BASIC FACTS

Mr. Brown Was the Victim of Savage Child Abuse

Mr. Brown’s mental illness manifested following a childhood of unrelieved and unimaginable pain and abuse. Mr. Brown was born prematurely to a 15 -year-old mother. His father was a severe alcoholic who failed to provide basic food and shelter for Mr. Brown and his siblings. There was no running water, indoor plumbing or heat in the house. The children went hungry, living primarily on a single daily meal of beans and cornbread. They were bitten by rats and other vermin which infested the house.

In addition to the physical deprivation, the father methodically and sadistically beat the children, particularly James. These beatings occurred several times a day, with belts, boards, branches, cords and fists. He would force the children to labor at tasks beyond their ability or simply to make them toil, i.e. having to clear a field by hand only to allow it to grow back so it could be cleared again. The children regularly failed to perform to the father’s satisfaction and would be beaten. The father also would verbally express the desire to beat them, and would then accuse them of some type of wrongdoing of which they were ignorant. If they admitted the wrongdoing, they would be beaten as punishment, if they denied it, they were beaten for lying.

The beatings were severe, resulting in welts, bruises, blood, black eyes and even unconsciousness. The beatings took place in public as well as in the home, adding humiliation to the physical pain. In addition to the physical and emotional abuse at home, Mr. Brown was sexually molested by a maternal uncle. Around the second grade, Mr. Brown developed a severe stutter, from which he still suffers. His stammering caused more public ridicule and humiliation, and although he liked school, he was afraid to speak or ask questions because of the unrelenting mocking of his peers and other adults, including teachers and his parents. He repeated grades 3, 7 and 8, dropping out after repeating 9th grade.

Mr. Brown’s Evolving Mental Illness

In 1963, Mr. Brown was diagnosed by the Emory Medical Clinic as suffering from a convulsive disorder. Doctors prescribed medication to control his seizures. Despite being medicated, Mr. Brown’s severe headaches and blackouts persisted. By 17, Mr. Brown had quit school after his second year of ninth grade and had entered the Marine Corps. Though accepted in the service, it soon became clear that Mr. Brown’s mental health was deteriorating, and he was discharged for mental illness after 16 months and two hospitalizations, during which he received electroshock treatment.

As Mr. Brown’s mental deterioration accelerated, he became increasingly unable to hold a job. He did odd jobs with his younger brother and tried to make ends meet, but his mental illness was debilitating. He turned to drugs, primarily LSD.

In 1968, Mr. Brown was arrested for the first time, but was deemed incompetent to stand trial and sent to Central State Hospital. Records indicate his symptoms included headaches and passing out, hearing voices and noises, and that he “attempted to cut throat in jail.” After six months at Central State, Mr. Brown was released with a diagnosis of psychoneurotic disorder with a dissociative reaction. Mr. Brown was readmitted to Central State within two months and remained hospitalized for eighteen months. At least one mental health expert diagnosed him as suffering from schizophrenic reaction, paranoid type.

In December 1972, Mr Brown was again readmitted to Central State where he remained until January 1974, though part of this stay appears to have been on an outpatient basis.

Mr. Brown was arrested and charged with killing Brenda Watson in May of 1975. He was immediately referred by the court back to Central State. When admitted to the Forensic Division for evaluation, he “was out of contact with reality” and “overtly psychotic.” (T 599, testimony of Dr. Jose Delatorre.) He was medicated with anti-psychotic drugs and found to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Central State doctors determined that Mr. Brown was “legally insane.” They went on to diagnose Mr. Brown as paranoid schizophrenic a total of seventeen (17) times between 1975 and 1989.

Over the next five years, Mr. Brown continued to be diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Psychotropic medications and tranquilizers would help for a time, but these periods fluctuated with periods of acute psychosis, in which he believed someone was trying to kill him through poisoning or germs, and in which he still suffered hallucinations of God and the devil.

Records from 1977 report him as “deranged, preaching the gospel and signing his name as Jesus Christ . . .” Later that same year, “staff reports patient appears to be regressing on ward – he sits alone with his coat over his head all day.”

Mr. Brown was eventually ruled competent and was tried and convicted in 1980. The Central State Hospital team which found him competent because his schizophrenia had been in remission noted they had “no opinion at this time about criminal responsibility because of the fact that [he] has been so psychotic between the time the crime was committed and the present time . . . feel his mental condition should be considered a mitigating factor.” However, Mr. Brown became psychotic during motion for new trial proceedings and was readmitted to Central State in an “acutely psychotic” condition expressing “many bizarre ideas and persecutory feelings.” He was again made “competent” through psychotropic medication and was returned to the court in January of 1982.

Mr. Brown’s conviction was overturned by the United States District Court in 1988 on issues related to his competency and he was retried in 1989. He was evaluated for competency prior to his retrial by the then-head of forensics at Central State Hospital. While he could not say whether Mr. Brown was psychotic at the time of the crime, (T 662), this state doctor averred that Mr. Brown’s mental illness was not schizophrenia at all, but hallucinogenic flashbacks stemming from LSD use in the 1970s, which were exacerbated by the psychotropic drugs with which Mr. Brown was being treated. The jury relied on this testimony in sentencing Mr. Brown to death. We now know that this doctor’s testimony was materially false.

Mr. Brown's Severe Mental Illness Warrants Clemency

At the time of the crime for which he is to be executed, Mr. Brown had been progressing more and more deeply into psychosis, and was floridly psychotic on admission to Central State following his arrest. Mr. Brown’s execution for a crime committed when he was the throes of untreated major mental illness, suffering from delusions and hallucinations, and being directed by the voices of God and the devil, serves no purpose other than vengeance. Executing the mentally ill runs counter to basic American standards of decency and fairness, and is contrary to fundamental standards of human rights.

The United States Supreme Court has recently followed the lead the State of Georgia established over a decade ago, when it forbade the execution of mentally retarded offenders. The Court recognized that no valid penological purpose is served in executing persons whose disabilities in areas of reasoning, judgment and impulse control mean they do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct. Atkins v. Virginia, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 2244 (2002). Paranoid schizophrenia, although not mental retardation as addressed by Atkins, has just as debilitating an effect on Mr. Brown’s judgment, impulse control and ability to reason.

The Board of Pardons and Paroles should exercise its mercy and recognize that Mr. Brown, like mentally retarded criminal defendants, did not act with the same level of moral culpability as would a person who does not suffer from profound mental illness. Commutation to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is entirely appropriate in this case.

Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (Brown News Articles)

"Parole board considering pending execution of dancers killer." (Associated Press October 31, 2003)

ATLANTA - The state parole board denied clemency Friday for a man convicted of killing a go-go dancer, clearing the way for his execution by lethal injection Tuesday. Attorneys for James Willie Brown, 55, had argued he was insane and should not be executed for the 1975 rape and murder of 21-year-old Brenda Sue Watson.

Browns attorney, Jeffery Ertel, told the parole board Friday morning that Brown is a paranoid schizophrenic who never would have been sentenced to death if he had been able to defend himself. Brown was so delusional that he rejected a plea deal for a life sentence without parole because he thought his own attorneys were part of a conspiracy against him, Ertel said. Mr. Brown was diagnosed 17 times with a severe mental illness, Ertel said Friday after the parole hearing, which was closed to the public. There was evidence supporting his mental illness, but that was undercut by the prosecution.

The prosecutor, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, didnt return phone calls seeking comment. The board also heard a witness from Browns trial, Anita Jean Tucker, who said she lied when she testified he was not insane. Tucker previously said Brown told her to act crazy so she could get a reduced sentence for an unrelated crime. Prosecutors used that information to convince the jury that Brown was also faking his insanity, Ertel said.

An expert of schizophrenia from Columbia University, Xavier Amador, told board members theyd be doing an injustice to allow Browns execution go forward. Theres no question in my mind that he has a very severe case of schizophrenia, Amador said. The jury never got to hear how mentally ill he is.

The board carefully weighed the facts before making its decision, said parole board spokeswoman Heather Hedrick. This is one of the most serious and grave decisions that the board ever considers, she said. Browns only recourse now is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ertel said.

Brown killed Watson on May 12, 1975, after the two had a steak dinner and a night of dancing at a DeKalb County motel bar. He tied up the dancer with nylon rope, shoved her panties down her throat and raped her as she suffocated. Her body was found the next day.

In preparation for his Tuesday execution, Brown has requested a last meal of a foot-long chili dog with everything, French fries, a dill pickle, strawberry ice cream and a soft drink.

"Death row inmate Brown gets indefinite execution stay," by Beth Warren. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The execution of James Willie Brown, 54, was put on hold again Wednesday by a Butts County judge. Superior Court Judge Kevin A. Wangerin initially issued a 48-hour stay but now has extended the stay indefinitely. He has requested a teleconference Friday morning with Brown's attorneys and the State Attorney General's office to set up a time for a hearing in the case. Brown's attorneys are arguing that Brown is a paranoid schizophrenic who wasn't competent to stand trial. Prosecutors maintain that Brown has a near-genius IQ and knew right from wrong at the time of the crime.

Brown was sentenced to die in 1990 for the May 13, 1975, rape and murder of Brenda Sue Watson, 21, near the Gwinnett-DeKalb county line. The judge could decide to overturn Brown's conviction and death sentence. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles is considering a request for executive clemency.

"Judge grants 48-hour stay for death row inmate Brown," by Beth Warren. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution November 19, 2002)

A Butts County Superior Court judge issued a 48-hour stay today for convicted rapist-murderer James Willie Brown. Brown, 54, was slated to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the 1975 slaying of Brenda Sue Watson in Lilburn. Watson, an Atlanta go-go dancer was bound at the ankles and wrists, raped and suffocated with her panties.

Kevin A. Wangerin, a Superior Court judge, signed the one-page stay. Heather Hedrick, a spokeswoman for the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, said the stay will give the board an opportunity to review Brown's request for a reduced sentence. The five-member board was asked by Brown's attorneys on Monday to spare his life based in part on the fact that he is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who was sexually abused by an uncle, beaten regularly by his father and neglected by his mother. The parole board, which has two new members, had been expected to issue a ruling Tuesday, but may now extend its deliberations, Hedrick said.

Brown initially was found incompetent to stand trial. He was brought to trial in 1981 and sentenced to die for Watson's slaying. But a federal court overturned the conviction in 1988 due to questions about his mental competency. He was retried in 1990 and again sentenced to die for his crimes.

Laura Hill Patton and Jeffrey L. Ertel, attorneys with the Federal Defender Program Inc., asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider evidence that a key witness lied at Brown's 1990 trial. They said the witness -- a female inmate -- now admits that she lied when she claimed Brown told her that faking mental illness could result in a lighter sentence.

The victim's family and the jurors who sentenced Brown also are asking for a commuted sentence, according to the lawyers' application. At the time of Brown's trial, life without the possibility of parole was not an option. "It's very rare that the board would change the sentence of the courts," parole board spokeswoman Heather Hedrick said.

Forty-one death row inmates have sought executive clemency from the board since 1976, when Georgia reinstated the death penalty, Hedrick said. Only seven of the 41 were spared. Six of the seven were given life sentences with the possibility of parole, she said. The seventh was sentenced to life without parole.

"Defense lawyers seek clemency for death row inmate Brown," by Beth Warren. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution November 19, 2002)

Convicted Gwinnett County murderer James Willie Brown has suffered from mental illness for decades and shouldn't be put to death Tuesday, his attorneys argued Monday. Brown, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, also was sexually abused by an uncle, beaten regularly by his father and neglected by his mother, the attorneys claimed in a 29-page plea for a stay of execution or reduced sentence. The five-member State Board of Pardons and Paroles will not rule on the last-minute appeal until Tuesday. Brown's execution is set for 7 p.m.

Brown, 54, was convicted of killing Brenda Sue Watson, 21, near the Gwinnett-DeKalb county line on May 13, 1975. Watson, an Atlanta go-go dancer, was bound at the ankles and wrists and raped while she suffocated on her panties. Brown initially was found incompetent to stand trial. He was brought to trial in 1981 and sentenced to die for Watson's slaying. But a federal court overturned the conviction in 1988 due to questions about his mental competency. He was retried in 1990 and again sentenced to die for his crimes.

Laura Hill Patton and Jeffrey L. Ertel, attorneys with the Federal Defender Program Inc., asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider evidence that a key witness lied at Brown's 1990 trial. They said the witness -- a female inmate -- now admits that she lied when she claimed Brown told her that faking mental illness could result in a lighter sentence. The victim's family and the jurors who sentenced Brown also are asking for a commuted sentence, according to the lawyers' application. At the time of Brown's trial, life without the possibility of parole was not an option.

"It's very rare that the board would change the sentence of the courts," parole board spokeswoman Heather Hedrick said. Forty-one death row inmates have sought executive clemency from the board since 1976, when Georgia reinstated the death penalty, Hedrick said. Only seven of the 41 were spared. Six of the seven were given life sentences with the possibility of parole, she said. The seventh was sentenced to life without parole.

"Brother says killer is 'the devil's son,'" by Beth Warren. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution November 17, 2002)

While Harold Brown spent most of his life saving others, older brother James Willie Brown was preying on women and fighting a death sentence. "It is hard to believe we're from the same stock," Harold Brown said Friday from his Lawrenceville home. James Willie Brown, 54, is scheduled to die Tuesday by lethal injection for the 1975 brutal rape and suffocation death of Atlanta go-go dancer Brenda Sue Watson, 21.

Those who have fought to spare his life say James Brown, a former Marine, had an abusive childhood, has a long history of mental illness and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter describes James Brown as a cunning predator who knew right from wrong when he attacked women in at least three counties.

He was suspected of killing another woman in Gwinnett and a woman in DeKalb, but the bodies were too decomposed to make a case, Porter said. Harold Brown, 53, who spent his career in the military and as a paramedic and firefighter in Gwinnett, said he won't be in town for the execution. "And I'm not going to the funeral," he said.

Troubled childhood - Harold and James Brown -- along with a younger sister and brother -- had a harsh, alcoholic father and a mother who didn't intervene, Harold Brown said.

James Brown would laugh when their father would do something mean like pluck the teeth of a possum out with tweezers, Harold Brown said. James also followed his father's lead, hanging their neighbor's baby ducks and swinging cats in the air until their necks broke, the younger brother said. "I was easygoing and soft-hearted," Harold Brown said. "My brother was mean. I thought when my dad died the devil died, but I think he's the devil's son."

James Brown's former attorney, Larry Duttweiler, said his client had a difficult childhood and began hearing voices and suffering severe headaches while still in elementary school. "His father beat him pretty regularly as a child and would encourage him to beat up other kids," Duttweiler said.

Harold Brown said his father often beat him and even broke his arm. But he said he never saw brother James take a blow. Harold Brown said his mother, who has declined comment, made excuses to explain away the bruises. He said he began running away from home at age 5 and finally was allowed to live with a loving and supportive family down the street beginning at age 9. James Brown had a borderline genius IQ but dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, records show.

Harold Brown said he worked hard to get good grades and earn accolades on his high school football team. He volunteered for the Army and earned a college degree on the GI Bill. James Brown escaped going to Vietnam, leaving the military in 1966 because of "mental difficulties," court records show. Harold Brown said his older brother went AWOL and was looking for a way out. "I had some hard knocks, but I never used that as a crutch," Harold Brown said.

A record of violence - Two years after James Brown was discharged from the military, he was charged with trying to rape and kill a woman in Fulton County, court records show. He was convicted of breaking into an Atlanta home, where he beat and stabbed the women on Feb. 17, 1968, according to Fulton County records.

The victim said Brown tied her up with nylon cord, shoved a washcloth in her mouth to silence her and tried to rape her. Brown shot at a man who tried to help the woman, court records show. Brown was sentenced to serve 10 years but was released on parole three years later. In DeKalb County, Brown was charged with a July 29, 1994, abduction and rape. He convinced a woman he was an artist who needed a model for a portrait, Porter said. DeKalb police were still searching for Brown on outstanding warrants of aggravated sodomy, kidnapping and armed robbery in the rape case when Watson's body was found nearly a year later, records show.

Watson, who had recently moved from Florida to DeKalb, and her killer met at an Atlanta nightspot where she danced. The two headed to a DeKalb County motel bar then called the Mark Inn Lounge on May 12, 1975. The two ate a steak dinner, downed several drinks and danced for hours before leaving about 11 p.m., according to testimony from their waitress, the last person to report seeing Watson alive. Brown drove her to a secluded area just over the DeKalb-Gwinnett county line and tightly bound her ankles and wrists with nylon cord. He removed most of her clothes and shoved her panties down her windpipe, suffocating her as he raped her.

A man rummaging for collectible items found Watson's body the next day under leaves near a trash dump off Rockbridge Road. Dirt and bark found inside her throat indicated the killer used a stick to shove the panties in so deep that the coroner had to use large prongs to reach them, said Burt Blanott, the lead Gwinnett County police investigator in the murder case. Blanott, who has since retired, said he remembers standing over the body, shuddring and thinking, "What a terrible, terrible way to die." Blanott, who interviewed James Brown a few days after Watson's death, said he is clever, not crazy. "I'd say anyone who goes out and does something like this has problems, but I do think he is a calculated, coldblooded killer," said Blanott, who remains a reserve deputy for the Gwinnett Sheriff's Department.

Conviction overturned - Two different Gwinnett grand juries decided James Brown's background wasn't a shield. He was first sentenced to die in 1981. But the murder conviction was overturned seven years later by a federal court because of questions about his mental competency to stand trial. He was retried in 1990 and again sentenced to die.

Tom Garmon, an investigator with the Gwinnett District Attorney's Office, grew up in Lilburn, then a small town, with the Brown children. Garmon, who helped investigate the Watson murder while working for the county police force, said James Brown made his own choices. "Harold was always one of the hardest-working individuals, always wanting to achieve more," Garmon said. "Obviously he did. He rose above any childhood problems growing up."

Harold Brown has been married for 26 years and has a grown son and daughter and three grandchildren. His older brother married a woman he met at an all-night diner. She initially stood by James Brown's side but has since died. Harold Brown, now a senior master sergeant in the Air Force Reserves, was sent to Germany this summer, where he put his paramedic training to use saving the life of a 20-year-old car crash victim, according to a military newspaper account.

He saw the man's SUV roll over and ran across the bustling autobahn to reach him and stop the bleeding in his partially severed arm. Harold Brown said he will be out of Georgia for military duty when his brother is executed. Porter and both investigators who helped track James Brown plan on witnessing the execution.

Brown v. State, 401 S.E.2d 492 (Ga. 1991). (Direct Appeal)

Defendant was convicted in the Superior Court, Gwinnett County, Luther C. Hames, J., of murder and sentenced to death. Defendant appealed. The Supreme Court, 250 Ga. 66, 295 S.E.2d 727, Clarke, J., affirmed. Thereafter, a Federal District Court granted petition for writ of habeas corpus. Following return for retrial, defendant was again found guilty of murder. The Superior Court, James A. Henderson, J., entered death sentence. Appeal was taken. The Supreme Court, Weltner, J., held that: (1) defendant was competent to stand trial for second time; (2) trial court did not err by permitting defendant's wife to invoke marital privilege and not testify; (3) defendant did not establish underrepresentation of blacks on traverse jury list; and (4) death sentence was warranted. Affirmed.

This is a death penalty case. The crime occurred in 1975. The appellant, James Willie Brown, was found incompetent to stand trial until 1981, when he was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Brenda Watson. We affirmed, holding, inter alia, that Brown had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was insane at the time of the crime. Brown v. State, 250 Ga. 66, 71-72, 295 S.E.2d 727 (1982). However, in 1988, a federal district court granted Brown's petition for writ of habeas corpus on two grounds relating to Brown's competence to stand trial. That order directed the state to make a "reliable determination" of Brown's competency before any retrial. See Brown v. Kemp, Case No. 1:88-cv-228- RCF (N. District Ga., decided September 30, 1988) (unpublished opinion).

The case was returned to Gwinnett County for a retrial. Brown was evaluated by two physicians, who concluded that Brown was competent to stand trial. A jury trial was impanelled to hear Brown's special plea of incompetence. See OCGA § 17-7-130. The special jury found him competent to stand trial, and, after further pretrial hearings, the case proceeded to the retrial of the case in chief. Brown again was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. This is his appeal.

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Brown did not present an insanity defense at the retrial, contending instead that he simply was not guilty. However, at the sentencing phase, two experts appeared on his behalf. One testified Brown was psychotic when he first examined him in June of 1975. He had no opinion about the defendant's sanity at the time of the crime, and suggested the stress of arrest could have triggered the defendant's psychosis. The other testified that when he examined the defendant in 1980, Brown was psychotic, but that he was now in complete remission.

The psychiatrist chosen by the state testified that the symptoms of post-hallucinogenic perceptual disorder were similar to schizophrenia. This fact, he testified, was unknown to psychiatric practitioners in 1975; that schizophrenia is a chronic, unrelenting disorder; and that he had never seen a schizophrenic with severe symptoms improve to the point of having no symptoms. In his opinion, Brown was never schizophrenic, but either had been malingering, or had suffered from post-hallucinogenic perceptual disorder. Whatever his mental condition during his first trial, it is abundantly clear that Brown has been mentally competent in the years since his first trial, and was competent at the time of the retrial.

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We do not find that the death sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or other arbitrary factor. OCGA § 17-10- 35(c)(1) The sentence of death is neither excessive nor disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant. OCGA § 17-10-35(c)(3) See Brown v. State, supra, 250 Ga. at 76(11), 295 S.E.2d 727. Judgment affirmed.

Brown v. State, 295 S.E.2d 727 (Ga. 1982). (Direct Appeal)

Defendant was convicted in the Superior Court, Gwinnett County, Luther C. Hames, J., of murder and sentenced to death, and he appealed. The Supreme Court, Clarke, J., held that: (1) evidence sustained the conviction; (2) evidence sustained finding that defendant was sane at the time of the offense; (3) evidence of prior attempted rapes by defendant was properly admitted; (4) use of the unified appeal procedure did not violate defendant's constitutional rights; (5) State had not suppressed evidence; and (6) sentence of death was not imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or other arbitrary factor. Affirmed.

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FACTS

At approximately 8:30 p.m. of May 12, 1975, appellant and Brenda Watson arrived at the Mark Inn lounge in Gwinnett County. They ate a carryout steak and potato dinner that they had brought with them and spent several hours drinking and dancing. They left together at approximately 11:00 p. m.

Brenda Watson's body was found the next day near a trash pile close to an old logging road in a heavily wooded area some 500 feet off Deshon Road in Gwinnett County. A cord was tied around her left ankle, and she had indentations on her wrists and her right ankle which could indicate she had been tied there also. She was nude except for a blue terrycloth blouse which was pulled up over her breasts. A pair of panties had been forced so far down her throat that they were not discovered until the autopsy.

Warren Tillman of the State Crime Lab testified that Brenda Watson's death was caused by suffocation from the panties in her throat. He discovered seminal fluid and sperm in the victim's throat and vagina. From abrasions and contusions around the victim's vagina, Tillman concluded that the victim had been raped and that this had occurred before her death. An undigested meal of steak and potatoes was found in the victim's stomach. Since a meal is usually digested within 4 hours, Tillman estimated that Watson died no later than 4:00 a. m.

Appellant was arrested May 15. Nylon cord found in his car was identical to that tied around the victim's left ankle. A hairbrush found in appellant's car contained hair similar in color and medulation to the victim's hair.

Appellant was questioned May 16. He initially denied knowing Brenda Watson. Upon being informed that he had been seen with her the night before her body had been discovered, he admitted that he and Ms. Watson had gone to the Mark Inn for drinks, but claimed that afterwards they went to a lounge off Covington Highway, where he left her. Later he stated that when they left the Mark Inn, Watson suggested they go to a quiet place in the country. Appellant took her to a secluded spot off Deshon Road. When he did, she told him that if he didn't pay her $200 she was going to call the police and claim he had tried to rape her. Appellant's response was to tie her up and gag her. Then he decided he might as well have sexual intercourse with her. So he did. On his way home he discovered that her pocketbook was still in his car. He stopped at a bridge on Killian Hill Road and threw the pocketbook into the Yellow River.

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