Thomas Baal

Overview

Thomas Baal was executed by lethal injection in Nevada on June 3, 1990.

Timeline

• February 28, 1988 — Police officers arrested Baal in Reno. After being given Miranda warnings, he confessed to the robbery and murder.
• March 1988 — Two psychiatrists examined Baal and found that he was competent to stand trial, able to understand right from wrong at the time of the alleged offense, and disturbed but not psychotic.
• June 1988 — Baal was arraigned and pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
• August 31, 1988 — Dr. O'Gorman examined Baal and concluded that he was competent to stand trial.
• September 22, 1988 — Baal pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and to robbery, both with use of a deadly weapon.
• May 24, 1990 — The state postconviction court held an evidentiary hearing to determine Baal's competency; Baal testified that he did not want to continue any postconviction proceedings and that he knew the date he would be put to death, the reason for it, and that his waiver of postconviction relief would result in his death.
• May 31, 1990 — Edwin and Doris Baal filed a petition for federal habeas corpus as “next friend” of Thomas E. Baal.
• June 2, 1990 — The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted petitioners' certificate of probable cause and stayed Baal's execution.
• June 3, 1990 — Thomas Baal was executed by lethal injection in Nevada; the United States Supreme Court also decided to vacate the stay.

The offence

Frances P. Maves died on February 26, 1988, after being robbed and stabbed as she was checking her shuttle bus at the Hughes Air Terminal in Las Vegas. Baal confessed that she gave him $20 when he demanded money but that he demanded more, and a struggle ensued. “You shouldn't have done that,” he said in the confession. “Now you pay. I sentence you to death.” Maves was stabbed repeatedly and died hours later.

Evidence indicated that after attempting to rob Frances P. Maves, Baal stabbed her numerous times, took her car, and fled. Maves was pronounced dead some hours later.

The condemned man stabbed a bus driver to death in Las Vegas in the 1988 robbery.

Investigation

Police officers arrested Baal in Reno on February 28, 1988. After being given his Miranda warnings, Baal confessed to the robbery and murder.

Arrest

Baal was arrested in Reno on February 28, 1988.

Competency and mental health background

Baal was described as having a history of mental problems and long-term mental problems and brain damage.

His parents said they believed her murder would not have happened if their son had received adequate psychiatric help. They said that he was “in mental hospitals until he was 14, and after that he was in and out of hospitals until he was 18... If they would have listened to us for the last 20 years when we asked for help, that woman would still be alive.” They said over the years they had spent more than $100,000 on psychiatric treatment for their son, and they stated that “when the money ran out, they let him sign out of a mental hospital”. They said their pleas for government assistance in getting psychiatric help were ignored.

A third psychiatrist, Dr. O'Gorman, was appointed to examine Baal, and following an examination on August 31, 1988, concluded that Baal was competent to stand trial.

Trial

Baal was convicted and sentenced to death in Nevada District Court for first-degree murder and robbery with use of a deadly weapon.

In March 1988, two psychiatrists examined Baal and found that he was competent to stand trial, able to understand right from wrong at the time of the alleged offense, and disturbed but not psychotic.

In June 1988, Baal was arraigned and pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

On September 22, 1988, Baal pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and to robbery, both with use of a deadly weapon.

A three-judge panel unanimously sentenced Baal to death.

The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed Baal's conviction and sentence, rejecting Baal's contention that he was incompetent to enter a guilty plea and that it was error not to conduct a competency hearing prior to accepting his pleas. Baal v. State, 106 Nev. 69, 787 P.2d 391 (1990).

Postconviction proceedings

Baal filed a petition for state postconviction relief, but, prior to the hearing, changed his mind and withdrew the petition.

On May 24, 1990, the state postconviction court held an evidentiary hearing to determine Baal's competency. Baal testified that he did not want to continue any postconviction proceedings. He testified that he knew the date he would be put to death, the reason he would be put to death, and that his waiver of postconviction relief would result in his death. A state psychiatrist testified that Baal was competent; a state prison official who had observed Baal also testified as to Baal's competence. The court reviewed the reports of three psychiatrists who had examined Baal and concluded that he was competent to stand trial.

Based on this evidence, the court held that Baal was aware of his impending execution and of the reason for it, and thus was sane under the test set forth in Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986). The court further held that Baal was in control of his faculties, was competent to choose to decline to pursue an appeal, and had made an intelligent waiver of his right to pursue postconviction relief.

Federal habeas and “next friend” proceedings

Approximately one week later, on May 31, 1990, and hours before Baal's scheduled execution, Edwin and Doris Baal filed a petition for federal habeas corpus relief as “next friend” of Thomas E. Baal. One of their grounds for relief was that “Thomas Baal is not competent to waive federal review of his claims.”

In support of this claim, petitioners relied on an affidavit of a nonexamining psychiatrist, Dr. Jerry Howle, and an affidavit of Doris Baal.

The United States District Court conducted a hearing and denied petitioners' application for stay of execution. It held that, under Whitmore v. Arkansas, ante, p. 149, petitioners had failed to establish that the court had jurisdiction to entertain the petition. It also held that petitioners had not provided an adequate explanation of why Baal could not appear on his own behalf to prosecute the action. The District Court found that, apart from the newly submitted affidavit of Dr. Howle, the evidence established that Baal was legally competent to understand the nature and consequences of his act and to represent his own interests in these proceedings. The District Court determined that Dr. Howle's affidavit was not based on a first-hand examination, was conclusory, and was insufficient to warrant a psychiatric hearing or additional psychiatric examinations of Baal. The court denied petitioners' motion for a certificate of probable cause.

Petitioners appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A divided panel granted petitioners' certificate of probable cause and stayed Baal's execution. The Court of Appeals held that petitioners had made “some minimum showing of [Baal's] incompetence” and that evidence in the record provided “at least an arguable basis for finding that a full evidentiary hearing on competence should have been held by the district court.” Order in Baal v. Godinez, No. 90-15716 (CA9, June 2, 1990), pp. 3, 5.

Judge Kozinski dissented and asserted that there was no substantial evidence of Baal's incompetence to warrant a further evidentiary hearing or to upset the Nevada District Court's finding that Baal was competent, which he said was entitled to a presumption of correctness upon federal habeas review. Dissent, at 6, 7.

United States Supreme Court decision

The United States Supreme Court decided the application on June 3, 1990: Peter DEMOSTHENES, Warden, et al. v. Edwin and Doris BAAL, 495 U.S. 731, No. A-857. Decided June 3, 1990 on application to vacate stay.

The Court held that no adequate basis existed for the exercise of federal power. It stated that the prerequisite for “next friend” status—that the real party in interest be unable to litigate his own cause due to mental incapacity—had not been satisfied. It held that the state court's factual conclusion that Baal had intelligently waived his right to pursue postconviction relief was fairly supported by the record and was binding on a federal habeas court. It also held that the Court of Appeals had not relied exclusively on Dr. Howle’s affidavit and that there was no evidentiary basis for the Court of Appeals conclusion that the District Court erred in declining to conduct an evidentiary hearing. The Court vacated the stay.

The Court noted that the District Court correctly denied petitioners' motion for a further evidentiary hearing on Baal's competence to waive his right to proceed absent “meaningful evidence” of incompetency.

In the affidavit, Dr. Howle stated that he had examined the reports of the psychiatrists who had found Baal competent to stand trial and a 1987 admission, evaluation, and discharge summary from the Hawaii State Hospital. Dr. Howle did not directly assert that Baal was incompetent. Rather, based only on these reports, and without any opportunity personally to observe Baal, the doctor concluded that “there is reason to believe this person may not be competent to waive his legal remedies.”

“conclusory and lacking sufficient foundation or substance to warrant either a psychiatric hearing or additional psychiatric examination of the defendant.”

The Court of Appeals and dissent discussion included the view that petitioners had alleged sufficient facts for a full evidentiary hearing on competence.

Execution

Baal was executed by lethal injection in Nevada.

He was pronounced dead nine minutes after a mixture of three lethal drugs was pumped through tubes into his arms at 7:05 A.M. as he lay strapped on a table in the old gas chamber at the Nevada State Prison.

The warden, Pete Demosthenes, said Baal's last words to him were “Send my love to my mama and my papa.”

The execution came hours after the United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to cancel a Federal appeals court ruling blocking the execution.

The execution was Nevada's 5th and the nation's 129th since the Supreme Court cleared the way for states to resume use of the death penalty in 1976.

Baal looked through viewing windows at the 24 witnesses and spoke to one of them, Dan Seaton, the Deputy District Attorney for Clark County, who had prosecuted him for the murder. Mr. Seaton said he could not tell what Baal was saying, even though Baal slowly mouthed a few words. After that, Baal appeared to talk to himself and then closed his eyes as the injection started.

Other proceedings and statements

The Supreme Court was asked by the Nevada Attorney General's office to cancel the stay. The prosecution's petition included a statement from Mr. Baal saying he was not insane or incompetent and adding, “I want to have this execution over with so that I can pay my debt.” His parents said they were shocked that prosecutors went to their son's cell at the Nevada State Prison to get the statement.

In the week before execution, one stay of execution was issued, and Baal threatened to escape and commit more crimes if sent to a mental institution instead of being executed.

A prison spokesman, Glen Whorton, said Baal was described as relieved after hearing of the High Court's decision: “He was glad it was finally going forward, and he started to make phone calls to friends and relatives,” the spokesman said.

People

• Thomas Baal — convicted killer; executed by lethal injection.
• Frances Maves (Frances P. Maves) — victim; died February 26, 1988; 34 years old.
• Edwin Baal — parent of Baal; filed federal habeas petition as “next friend.”
• Doris Baal — parent of Baal; filed federal habeas petition as “next friend.”
• Pete Demosthenes — warden.
• Glen Whorton — prison spokesman.
• Dan Seaton — Deputy District Attorney for Clark County; prosecuted Baal for the murder.
• Dr. O'Gorman — psychiatrist appointed to examine Baal.
• Dr. Jerry Howle — nonexamining psychiatrist whose affidavit was relied upon by petitioners.
• Justice William H. Rehnquist — voted to erase the stay and allow the execution.
• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor — voted to erase the stay and allow the execution.
• Justice Antonin Scalia — voted to erase the stay and allow the execution.
• Justice Byron R. White — voted to erase the stay and allow the execution.
• Justice Anthony M. Kennedy — voted to erase the stay and allow the execution.
• Justice Thurgood Marshall — voted to keep the stay.
• Justice William J. Brennan Jr. — voted to keep the stay.
• Justice Harry A. Blackmun — voted to keep the stay.
• Justice John Paul Stevens — voted to keep the stay.
• Judge Kozinski — dissented on the Ninth Circuit.

Legal citations and procedural details

• Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986) — test referenced for sanity.
• Maggio v. Fulford, 462 U.S. 111 — referenced for presumption of correctness.
• Whitmore v. Arkansas — referenced for next-friend standing in federal court.
• Rosenberg v. United States, 346 U.S. 273, 291 (1953) — referenced for next-friend prerequisite.
• Rees v. Peyton, 384 U.S. 312 (1966) — referenced in discussion of judicial determination of competence.
• Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880 (1983) — referenced in discussion of substantial grounds.
• Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293 (1963) — referenced regarding evidentiary hearings for disputed facts.
• Baal v. State, 106 Nev. 69, 787 P.2d 391 (1990) — Nevada Supreme Court decision affirming conviction and sentence.
• Baal v. Godinez, No. 90-15716 (CA9, June 2, 1990) — Ninth Circuit stay and certificate of probable cause.

Offence-related places

• Las Vegas — murder occurred at the Hughes Air Terminal.
• Hughes Air Terminal — location where Frances P. Maves was checking her shuttle bus.
• Reno — Baal was arrested.
• Nevada State Prison — execution occurred in the old gas chamber.
• Clark County — prosecution by Deputy District Attorney Dan Seaton.
• Mesa, Colo. — Edwin and Doris Baal sought a stay with the appeals court.

Character and motive statements in confessions or proceedings

Baal’s confession included that he demanded more money than Frances Maves gave him, a struggle ensued, and she was stabbed repeatedly; he also said: “You shouldn't have done that.” and “Now you pay. I sentence you to death.”

The prosecution’s petition included a statement from Baal saying he was not insane or incompetent and adding, “I want to have this execution over with so that I can pay my debt.”