Dalton Prejean

Dalton Prejean (December 10, 1959 – May 18, 1990) was one of 22 people in the United States executed for crimes committed as a juvenile prior to the decision Roper v. Simmons in 2005.

The case received international attention because the defendant was a black man convicted by an all-white jury; had brain damage and tested just above mental illness; and was age 17 at the time of the crime.

Around this time, he began creating problems of an unknown nature, and was sent to live with his mother in Lafayette.

In a later statement about the incident, Dalton stated that he and two friends called a cab with the intention of robbing the driver.

Dalton was diagnosed as having borderline mental retardation, and it was questionable if he knew the difference between right and wrong.

He concluded that the defendant's values had changed, but cautioned that "suitable conditions (should be) imposed to be sure he had adequate supervision and is going to live in a fairly stable environment."

On December 10, 1976, Prejean was released to the custody of his aunt in Houston, apparently without any probation requirements.

They left Roger's Nite Club in a 1966 Chevrolet driven by Dalton, with his brother in the front seat and the other two in the back.

Prejean and his brother attempted to switch places in the front seat because the defendant had been driving without a license.

Dalton Prejean was charged by grand jury indictment with first degree murder in violation of Louisiana Revised Statute 14:30.

After a three-day bifurcated trial beginning on May 1, 1978, a jury of twelve persons found the defendant guilty as charged and unanimously recommended that a death sentence be imposed.

Prejean's defense lawyers appealed, citing mitigating factors of an IQ around 71, schizophrenia with two institutionalizations, and his abandonment as an infant.

[5] The appeal reached the US Supreme Court in 1990; in November 1989 it had granted a stay on the eve of his scheduled execution.

A representative for Amnesty International said, "I doubt that in documented recent world history there is an execution [with] such a pile of reasons not to do it.

"[7] Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer declined to commute the death sentence to life in prison, rejecting the recommendation of the parole board.

"On behalf of 780 state troopers, and thousands of police officers who put their lives on the line every day, the execution will proceed.