Ronald A. Gray
Encyclopedia
Ronald Adrin Gray is an American
spree killer
whose convictions include four counts of murder
, one count of attempted murder and eight counts of rape
. His crimes were committed when he was in the United States Army
, stationed at Fort Bragg
, North Carolina. He was tried and convicted by military courts, and was sentenced to be put to death. His execution
by lethal injection would be the first performed by the United States military since the execution of John A. Bennett
for rape and attempted murder in 1961. On November 26, 2008, a federal judge issued a stay of execution
stopping the planned December 10 execution.
, but grew up in Liberty City, a public housing project in Miami, Florida
. He enlisted at age 18 in 1984, and was assigned to the Target Acquisition Battery, 1-39 Field Artillery
Battalion
. At the time of his arrest, he was stationed at Fort Bragg
, near Fayetteville, North Carolina
, where he was a cook
assigned to 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. He held the rank of specialist
(E-4).
During his court-martial
, his mother Lizzie Hurd and sister testified that he had been abused
by his stepfather as a child. Colonel David Armitage, a military forensic psychiatrist, also testified that in Gray's early life, he had experienced:
, and murdered Private
Laura Lee Vickery-Clay, age 18. On January 3, 1987, he raped and attempted to murder Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth, age 20. Three days later, on January 6, he raped, sodomized, robbed, and murdered a civilian, Kimberly Ann Ruggles, age 23.
The first victim, Vickery-Clay, disappeared from Fort Bragg on December 15, 1986. Two witnesses saw her at a local K-Mart with a man later identified as Gray. Vickery-Clay's car, found the next morning a block from her home, appeared to have been driven through the woods, and the driver's seat was set back farther than necessary for Vickery-Clay to drive. Three of Gray's fingerprint
s were found on the hood of the car. On January 17, 1987, a soldier discovered Vickery-Clay's half-naked, decomposed body in the woods in Fort Bragg. She had been raped, sodomized, and shot in the neck, forehead, chest, and back of the head. She had also suffered blunt force trauma
to various parts of her body. The murder weapon, a .22 caliber pistol
that Gray had stolen in November 1986, was found 60 feet from the victim's body.
On January 3, 1987, Gray entered the barracks
room of Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth under the pretense of needing to use the bathroom. Once inside, Gray grabbed Nameth, held a knife to her throat, and asked for her military field gear. Gray tied Nameth's hands behind her back, removed her underclothing, and raped her. Gray then stabbed her repeatedly in the neck and on the side of her body, and threatened to return and kill her if she screamed. Nameth suffered a lacerated trachea
and a collapsed lung, but survived. When Gray's photograph appeared in the news following his arrest for another crime, Nameth identified him as her assailant.
On the evening of January 6, 1987, Kimberly Ann Ruggles, a local cab driver, was dispatched to pick up a passenger named "Ron" at Gray's address. In the early morning hours of January 7, military police officers on routine patrol discovered Ruggles' empty cab parked at the edge of the woods. Her nude body was discovered a short distance away. She had been raped, sodomized, beaten, and stabbed seven times. Ruggles' mouth was gagged with a cloth belt that matched a pair of black karate
pants other police officers had found in Gray's possession hours earlier. Gray's fingerprints were on the interior door handle of Ruggles' taxi, and Ruggles' fingerprints were found on money in Gray's possession. Gray's footprint
s were also found at the scene of the crime.
On November 5, 1987, Gray pleaded guilty in Cumberland County Superior Court to 22 felon
ies: two counts of second degree murder, two counts of first degree burglary
, five counts of first degree rape, five counts of first degree sexual offense, attempt
ed first degree rape, three counts of second degree kidnapping
, two counts of robbery
with a dangerous weapon, assault
with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and inflicting serious injury. He was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent terms of life imprisonment
for those crimes.
Gray was also tried by a military court
. The general court-martial lasted from December 1987 until April 1988 and was composed of commissioned and enlisted soldiers at Fort Bragg. Gray was convicted of 14 charges, including the premeditated murder
s of Ruggles and Vickery-Clay, the attempted premeditated murder of Lang Nameth, three rapes, two robberies, and two counts of forcible sodomy. On April 12, 1988, he was unanimously sentenced to death. He was additionally sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture
of all pay and allowances, and reduction in rank to Private E-1. On July 29, 1988, the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division approved the sentence. Gray was 22 at the time of his sentencing.
Gray remained on death row
at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As a member of the United States Armed Forces Gray cannot be executed until the president approves the death sentence. On July 28, 2008, President George W. Bush
approved Gray's execution, making Gray the first service member sentenced to death since 1957. One month later, Army Secretary Pete Geren
set the execution date as December 10, 2008, and ordered that Gray be put to death by lethal injection
at the Federal Correctional Complex
in Terre Haute, Indiana
. The military released the news of Gray's execution date on November 20, 2008. Army personnel will be responsible for conducting the execution, based on an agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons
.
board, which, on June 30, 1990, found that Gray was responsible at the time of the offenses and that he was competent to understand his trial and the present appellate proceedings. On July 20, 1990, the Government Appellate Division answered Gray’s assignment of errors.
On December 27, 1990, Gray filed a motion with the Court of Military Review requesting that court to order the Government to provide $15,000 for an expert psychiatrist
, a death-penalty-qualified attorney, and an investigator. Oral arguments were heard on the motion in January 1991. On March 12, 1991, the Court of Military Review denied the motion. Gray renewed his request for a psychiatrist and an investigator on August 7, 1991, but the Court of Military Review denied it on August 23, 1991. On September 12, 1991, Gray filed a writ-appeal petition requesting that this Court order the Government to provide $10,000 and an emergency stay of the proceedings before the Court of Military Review. On October 18, 1991, this Court denied the writ-appeal petition and the stay application.
On December 16, 1991, Gray filed a motion with the Court of Military Review requesting that court to order additional medical and neuropsychological
tests be performed by military authorities. On December 31, 1991, that court granted Gray’s request and ordered a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of the brain; a 20-channel scalp electrode, sleep-deprived EEG
; and a SPECT scan of his brain, as well as intellectual, neuropsychological, academic, psychological, and personality tests. On February 18, 1992, a report based on these tests was completed by Captain Fred H. Brown, Jr., Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist from Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg. Brown stated in an affidavit
filed with the appellate court that Gray was sane
at the time of the offenses and during the proceedings. On March 9, 1992, counsel filed a petition for new trial based on newly-discovered evidence of lack of mental responsibility.
On February 26, 1992, Gray filed a supplementary assignment of errors, to which the Government responded on March 27, 1992. On April 8, 1992, the Court of Military Review heard oral arguments, and on December 15, 1992, denied the petition for a new trial and affirmed the findings and sentence. On December 30, 1992, Gray filed a motion renewing his request for funds for an expert investigator and a behavioral neurologist. Gray filed a petition for reconsideration of this decision on January 4, 1993. The Court of Military Review heard oral arguments on the motion for funding on January 21, 1993, and denied the motion for funding and the petition for reconsideration on January 22, 1993. On February 11, 1993, Gray filed a motion and suggestion for reconsideration by the court sitting en banc
of the denial of funding, and a motion and suggestion for reconsideration by the court sitting en banc of the decision of December 15, 1992. On March 11, 1993, the court denied both motions and the suggestions for reconsideration en banc, but granted a motion allowing Gray to file a supplemental assignment of errors (XXVIII-LVI). The Government answered this assignment of errors on April 12, 1993. On June 9, 1993, the Court of Military Review again affirmed the findings and sentence. Gray filed a motion for reconsideration on June 28, 1993, which the court denied on June 30, 1993.
With Gray's sentence affirmed by the President and the warrant issued by the Secretary of the Army, execution was scheduled for December 10, 2008. Army spokesman Lt. Col. George Wright said on November 20 (the date when the execution date was announced) that Gray had two legal options remaining: filing a petition with a federal appellate court to stay the execution, or requesting that the president reconsider approval of the execution. On November 26, 2008, a federal judge granted Gray a stay of execution
to allow time for further appeals.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
spree killer
Spree killer
A spree killer is someone who embarks on a murderous assault on two or more victims in a short time in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders."-Definition:According to the...
whose convictions include four counts of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, one count of attempted murder and eight counts of rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
. His crimes were committed when he was in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, stationed at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg (North Carolina)
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
, North Carolina. He was tried and convicted by military courts, and was sentenced to be put to death. His execution
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by lethal injection would be the first performed by the United States military since the execution of John A. Bennett
John A. Bennett
John Arthur Bennett was a Private First Class in the United States Army who was convicted and executed for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl. He is the last person to have been executed by the United States military.Bennett was born in Virginia to a family of African...
for rape and attempted murder in 1961. On November 26, 2008, a federal judge issued a stay of execution
Stay of execution
A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. The word "execution" does not necessarily mean the death penalty; it refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is being stayed....
stopping the planned December 10 execution.
Early life
Gray was born in Cochran, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, but grew up in Liberty City, a public housing project in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. He enlisted at age 18 in 1984, and was assigned to the Target Acquisition Battery, 1-39 Field Artillery
Field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....
Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
. At the time of his arrest, he was stationed at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg (North Carolina)
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
, near Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
, where he was a cook
Cook (profession)
A cook is a person who prepares food for consumption. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Canada this profession requires government approval ....
assigned to 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. He held the rank of specialist
Specialist (rank)
Specialist is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the U.S. Army, just above Private First Class and equivalent in pay grade to Corporal. Unlike Corporals, Specialists are not considered junior non-commissioned officers...
(E-4).
During his court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
, his mother Lizzie Hurd and sister testified that he had been abused
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
by his stepfather as a child. Colonel David Armitage, a military forensic psychiatrist, also testified that in Gray's early life, he had experienced:
Gray's crimes
On December 15, 1986, Gray abducted, raped, sodomizedSodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
, and murdered Private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
Laura Lee Vickery-Clay, age 18. On January 3, 1987, he raped and attempted to murder Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth, age 20. Three days later, on January 6, he raped, sodomized, robbed, and murdered a civilian, Kimberly Ann Ruggles, age 23.
The first victim, Vickery-Clay, disappeared from Fort Bragg on December 15, 1986. Two witnesses saw her at a local K-Mart with a man later identified as Gray. Vickery-Clay's car, found the next morning a block from her home, appeared to have been driven through the woods, and the driver's seat was set back farther than necessary for Vickery-Clay to drive. Three of Gray's fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s were found on the hood of the car. On January 17, 1987, a soldier discovered Vickery-Clay's half-naked, decomposed body in the woods in Fort Bragg. She had been raped, sodomized, and shot in the neck, forehead, chest, and back of the head. She had also suffered blunt force trauma
Blunt trauma
In medical terminology, blunt trauma, blunt injury, non-penetrating trauma or blunt force trauma refers to a type of physical trauma caused to a body part, either by impact, injury or physical attack; the latter usually being referred to as blunt force trauma...
to various parts of her body. The murder weapon, a .22 caliber pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
that Gray had stolen in November 1986, was found 60 feet from the victim's body.
On January 3, 1987, Gray entered the barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
room of Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth under the pretense of needing to use the bathroom. Once inside, Gray grabbed Nameth, held a knife to her throat, and asked for her military field gear. Gray tied Nameth's hands behind her back, removed her underclothing, and raped her. Gray then stabbed her repeatedly in the neck and on the side of her body, and threatened to return and kill her if she screamed. Nameth suffered a lacerated trachea
Vertebrate trachea
In tetrapod anatomy the trachea, or windpipe, is a tube that connects the pharynx or larynx to the lungs, allowing the passage of air. It is lined with pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium cells with goblet cells that produce mucus...
and a collapsed lung, but survived. When Gray's photograph appeared in the news following his arrest for another crime, Nameth identified him as her assailant.
On the evening of January 6, 1987, Kimberly Ann Ruggles, a local cab driver, was dispatched to pick up a passenger named "Ron" at Gray's address. In the early morning hours of January 7, military police officers on routine patrol discovered Ruggles' empty cab parked at the edge of the woods. Her nude body was discovered a short distance away. She had been raped, sodomized, beaten, and stabbed seven times. Ruggles' mouth was gagged with a cloth belt that matched a pair of black karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
pants other police officers had found in Gray's possession hours earlier. Gray's fingerprints were on the interior door handle of Ruggles' taxi, and Ruggles' fingerprints were found on money in Gray's possession. Gray's footprint
Footprint
Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes...
s were also found at the scene of the crime.
Arrest, trial, conviction and sentence
On August 7, 1987, Gray was charged with two counts of murder (Ruggles and Vickery-Clay) and two counts of attempted murder on a military reservation.On November 5, 1987, Gray pleaded guilty in Cumberland County Superior Court to 22 felon
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
ies: two counts of second degree murder, two counts of first degree burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
, five counts of first degree rape, five counts of first degree sexual offense, attempt
Attempt
Attempt was originally an offence under the common law of England.Attempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself: the actions must go beyond mere preparation....
ed first degree rape, three counts of second degree kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, two counts of robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
with a dangerous weapon, assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and inflicting serious injury. He was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent terms of life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
for those crimes.
Gray was also tried by a military court
Courts-martial in the United States
Courts-martial in the United States are criminal trials conducted by the U.S. military. Most commonly, courts-martial are convened to try members of the U.S. military for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice , which is the U.S. military's criminal code...
. The general court-martial lasted from December 1987 until April 1988 and was composed of commissioned and enlisted soldiers at Fort Bragg. Gray was convicted of 14 charges, including the premeditated murder
Premeditated murder
Premeditated murder is the crime of wrongfully causing the death of another human being after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension.State laws in the United States vary as to definitions...
s of Ruggles and Vickery-Clay, the attempted premeditated murder of Lang Nameth, three rapes, two robberies, and two counts of forcible sodomy. On April 12, 1988, he was unanimously sentenced to death. He was additionally sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture
Asset forfeiture
Asset forfeiture is confiscation, by the State, of assets which are either the alleged proceeds of crime or the alleged instrumentalities of crime, and more recently, alleged terrorism. Instrumentalities of crime are property that was allegedly used to facilitate crime, for example cars...
of all pay and allowances, and reduction in rank to Private E-1. On July 29, 1988, the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division approved the sentence. Gray was 22 at the time of his sentencing.
Gray remained on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As a member of the United States Armed Forces Gray cannot be executed until the president approves the death sentence. On July 28, 2008, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
approved Gray's execution, making Gray the first service member sentenced to death since 1957. One month later, Army Secretary Pete Geren
Pete Geren
Preston M. "Pete" Geren, III served as the 20th United States Secretary of the Army from July 16, 2007 to September 16, 2009...
set the execution date as December 10, 2008, and ordered that Gray be put to death by lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
at the Federal Correctional Complex
Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute
The Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, is a federal prison for adult males located at the intersection of State Road 63 and Springhill Drive, two miles south of Terre Haute, Indiana United States...
in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
. The military released the news of Gray's execution date on November 20, 2008. Army personnel will be responsible for conducting the execution, based on an agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
.
Appeals
Immediately following Gray's court-martial, the records of the trial were forwarded to Defense Appellate Division and received by them on August 8, 1988. Counsel filed initial pleadings with the Court of Military Review on September 15, 1989. On February 13, 1990, that court ordered a sanitySanity
Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...
board, which, on June 30, 1990, found that Gray was responsible at the time of the offenses and that he was competent to understand his trial and the present appellate proceedings. On July 20, 1990, the Government Appellate Division answered Gray’s assignment of errors.
On December 27, 1990, Gray filed a motion with the Court of Military Review requesting that court to order the Government to provide $15,000 for an expert psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, a death-penalty-qualified attorney, and an investigator. Oral arguments were heard on the motion in January 1991. On March 12, 1991, the Court of Military Review denied the motion. Gray renewed his request for a psychiatrist and an investigator on August 7, 1991, but the Court of Military Review denied it on August 23, 1991. On September 12, 1991, Gray filed a writ-appeal petition requesting that this Court order the Government to provide $10,000 and an emergency stay of the proceedings before the Court of Military Review. On October 18, 1991, this Court denied the writ-appeal petition and the stay application.
On December 16, 1991, Gray filed a motion with the Court of Military Review requesting that court to order additional medical and neuropsychological
Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...
tests be performed by military authorities. On December 31, 1991, that court granted Gray’s request and ordered a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of the brain; a 20-channel scalp electrode, sleep-deprived EEG
EEG
EEG commonly refers to electroencephalography, a measurement of the electrical activity of the brain.EEG may also refer to:* Emperor Entertainment Group, a Hong Kong-based entertainment company...
; and a SPECT scan of his brain, as well as intellectual, neuropsychological, academic, psychological, and personality tests. On February 18, 1992, a report based on these tests was completed by Captain Fred H. Brown, Jr., Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist from Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg. Brown stated in an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
filed with the appellate court that Gray was sane
Sanity
Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...
at the time of the offenses and during the proceedings. On March 9, 1992, counsel filed a petition for new trial based on newly-discovered evidence of lack of mental responsibility.
On February 26, 1992, Gray filed a supplementary assignment of errors, to which the Government responded on March 27, 1992. On April 8, 1992, the Court of Military Review heard oral arguments, and on December 15, 1992, denied the petition for a new trial and affirmed the findings and sentence. On December 30, 1992, Gray filed a motion renewing his request for funds for an expert investigator and a behavioral neurologist. Gray filed a petition for reconsideration of this decision on January 4, 1993. The Court of Military Review heard oral arguments on the motion for funding on January 21, 1993, and denied the motion for funding and the petition for reconsideration on January 22, 1993. On February 11, 1993, Gray filed a motion and suggestion for reconsideration by the court sitting en banc
En banc
En banc, in banc, in banco or in bank is a French term used to refer to the hearing of a legal case where all judges of a court will hear the case , rather than a panel of them. It is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance...
of the denial of funding, and a motion and suggestion for reconsideration by the court sitting en banc of the decision of December 15, 1992. On March 11, 1993, the court denied both motions and the suggestions for reconsideration en banc, but granted a motion allowing Gray to file a supplemental assignment of errors (XXVIII-LVI). The Government answered this assignment of errors on April 12, 1993. On June 9, 1993, the Court of Military Review again affirmed the findings and sentence. Gray filed a motion for reconsideration on June 28, 1993, which the court denied on June 30, 1993.
With Gray's sentence affirmed by the President and the warrant issued by the Secretary of the Army, execution was scheduled for December 10, 2008. Army spokesman Lt. Col. George Wright said on November 20 (the date when the execution date was announced) that Gray had two legal options remaining: filing a petition with a federal appellate court to stay the execution, or requesting that the president reconsider approval of the execution. On November 26, 2008, a federal judge granted Gray a stay of execution
Stay of execution
A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. The word "execution" does not necessarily mean the death penalty; it refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is being stayed....
to allow time for further appeals.