Attorney Seeks to Halt Execution in 1996 Tyler Murder

TYLER � An American Civil Liberties Union attorney has filed paperwork to halt the execution of an East Texas man convicted of murder. According to the Smith County 114th District Court, attorney Brian Stull has filed a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus in order to halt the execution of Robert Charles Ladd. KETK reports Stull has filed the paperwork challenging Texas legal procedures to determine intellectual disability in the wake of Hall v. Florida. “Undersigned counsel has insufficient time to prepare a more thorough application, but begs the Court’s patience to consider this important issue, to grant a stay, and to set this case for further briefing and a hearing,” wrote Stull.

An execution date of January 29 has been set for Ladd, who was convicted of raping and killing a woman in Tyler nearly 20 years ago. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice reports Ladd, 57, is set to be put to death by lethal injection January 29 for the rape and strangulation murder of Vicki Ann Garner on September 25, 1996. According to court documents, Ladd also robbed her home before setting it on fire.

Police were able to connect the murderer to the crime scene after DNA was found on Garner and a television set taken from her home. Authorities said he exchanged it for crack cocaine. Ladd was found guilty capital murder on August 23, 1997, and four days later he was sentenced to death. Ladd’s execution had been put on hold in 2003 when old evidence showed the suspect was mentally challenged; he received an IQ score of 67. Two other appeals were previously denied in 1999 and 2000. Then District Attorney Jack Skeen disagreed with the stay and stated he believed Ladd knew exactly what he was doing when he brutally murdered Garner, a mentally-challenged woman.

Ladd was also convicted of murdering a woman and her two children and then setting her house on fire in 1978. He was released from prison after serving 16 years of a 40-year sentence.