Death Row Juveniles Share History of Abuse in Youth

A landmark study of 14 juvenile offenders on Death Row has found that all 14 suffered serious head injuries as children, all but two were severely beaten or physically abused and five were sexually abused by relatives.

All had serious psychiatric problems, and most had brain abnormalities, low IQs and poor mental test scores.

“Our data . . . indicate that juveniles condemned to death in the United States are multiply handicapped,” concluded the first detailed psychiatric and neurological study of inmates on Death Row for crimes committed before age 18.

Reported in Journal

The study was conducted by Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a psychiatrist at New York University School of Medicine. Her team included Dr. Jonathan H. Pincus, chairman of neurology at Georgetown University Medical Center, and other researchers from NYU and Central Connecticut State University. Findings were reported in the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

“We were staggered by it,” Lewis said, referring to the pattern of trauma and psychopathology among the 14 inmates.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Pincus said. “Every one of these kids was impaired. The finding is startling and very much at odds with what has appeared in the literature, which is that criminals are criminals, and there’s nothing wrong with them neurologically or psychiatrically.”

Specific Findings

Specifically, the study of the 14 Death Row juveniles found:

- Head injury. All 14 had serious head injuries as children--eight of them serious enough to require hospitalization. One was hit by a truck at age 4, went into a coma and was in the hospital for 11 months. Another was hit by a car at age 6 and hospitalized for six months.

- Brain damage. Nine of the 14 showed serious neurological abnormalities, including brain damage, seizures or unusual brain-wave pattern.

- Psychiatric problems. Seven were psychotic. Four others had a history of severe mood disorder. The other three had periodic paranoid ideation--suspicions of being harassed and persecuted--during which they often assaulted perceived enemies.

- Low IQ. Only two of the 14 had IQ scores above 90 (100 is average). On a test for abstract reasoning, nine scored at a level indicating significant brain damage. Only three were reading at grade level. Three did not learn to read at all until they reached Death Row.

- Physical and sexual abuse. All but two had been brutally beaten, whipped or otherwise physically abused, and five had been sodomized by older male relatives.

- Family history. Alcoholism, drug abuse and psychiatric treatment and hospitalization were prevalent in the history of their parents.

Perhaps the most striking finding was that few of these vulnerabilities--all of which are potential mitigating factors against imposition of a death sentence--were brought to light during their trials. Only five of the 14 subjects had received any psychiatric evaluation before their trials.

Not Aware of Significance

The defendants themselves often are too embarrassed or frightened to describe the abuse they suffered or the problems they have, researchers said, and few are aware of the legal implications of such details.

“Most of these kids would much rather go to the electric chair than have people think they were crazy,” Pincus said.

Nor do relatives who have beaten or sexually abused the defendant have any incentive to bring that up in court. In many cases, the family sides with the prosecution out of fear of disclosure or embarrassment over the crime.

Tracing histories of abuse and diagnosing psychological impairment require time-consuming and persistent research. But juveniles who end up on Death Row are often represented by inexperienced lawyers with little time or stake in the case.

Different for Wealthy

“If a rich person got into this situation, they’d bring in a team of attorneys,” said Victor L. Streib, author of “Death Penalty for Juveniles.” “The trial would take six weeks and cost a million dollars. But we’re talking about public defenders walking in on the morning of the trial and spending 15 minutes with their client.

“It’s not just a little bit different. It’s vastly, totally different.”

Even now that Lewis’ research has been published, attorneys in fewer than half of the cases studied have contacted her for the full report, she said.

The 14 inmates in the study included all the juvenile offenders on Death Row in four states. Each had been sentenced to death for a murder committed before age 18. They included six blacks, seven whites and one Latino.

Inmates in the study were interviewed extensively about their backgrounds, family and medical histories, schooling and crimes. Each received a detailed psychiatric, neurological and educational examination. Interviews and tests were conducted during 1986 and 1987.

Not Identified by Name

The 14 were not identified by name in the study, but attorneys and court records confirmed that the subjects included Wayne Thompson, whose Oklahoma death sentence was overturned last month by the Supreme Court, and Paul Magill, who after 11 years on Death Row in Florida was resentenced in May to life in prison.

Experts said the findings support the conclusion that violence begets violence--and abuse, abuse.

“It’s just about unheard of, except where drugs are involved, for a kid to wake up one morning and go crazy and kill,” said Patricia Puritz, director of the American Bar Assn.’s Juvenile Justice Project. “Criminal acts of that sort are the result of a festering wound.”

‘Excessive Punishment’

Pincus said that, although he does not oppose capital punishment in principle, the study’s findings have convinced him that the death penalty is “excessive punishment” for even horrible murders committed by juveniles.