"Dr. Death" Agrees to Stop Evaluating Mentally Disabled Texas Death Row Prisoners

Last Friday, Texas reprimanded a psychologist who used what critics say were unscientific methods to examine at least 25 Texas death row prisoners for intellectual disabilities, two of whom were later executed. Dr. George Denkowski was the go-to psychologist for prosecutors who wanted to prove defendants were not mentally handicapped—and therefore eligible for the death penalty. Democracy Now! first covered Dr. Denkowski in January 2010 in a video report by Renée Feltz that accompanied her story for The Texas Observer magazine. For an update, we’re joined by Texas Defender Service attorney, Kathryn Kase, and by Dr. Jerome Brown, the psychologist filed the complaint that ultimately resulted in Denkowski’s agreement to stop evaluating people in criminal cases.