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1/30/04 See News Release 009 for any corrections or dissents.
SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 2003-KP-0602 STATE EX REL SCOTT JUDE BOURQUE VERSUS BURL CAIN, WARDEN

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF ST. MARTIN
PER CURIAM In Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399, 417, 106 S.Ct. 2595, 2606, 91 L.Ed.2d 355 (1986), the United States Supreme Court made clear that the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution precludes the states from executing "one whose mental illness prevents him from comprehending the penalty or its implications." Shortly thereafter, this court followed suit, finding that the

Louisiana Constitution, as well, bars the execution of one "who lacks the capacity to understand the death penalty." State v. Perry, 502 So.2d 543, 563-4 (La. 1986). Though the rule is clear

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