Rhiannon Ingle
A death row inmate from South Carolina has revealed the sobering reason as to why he volunteered himself to be executed.
The likes of James Robertson, 51, has been on death row way over two decades now since 1999, after murdering both his parents.
He brutally beat his father with a hammer and baseball bat and stabbed his mother to death, before attempting to make the crime look like a robbery, in the hopes of getting his hands on some of their $2.2 million estate, according to prosecutors.
In a shocking turn of events, Robertson has now said that he wants to become his own attorney - a decision that would likely lead to his own execution, after his best friend and four fellow inmates received the death penalty in less than a year.
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Following Robertson's request, a federal judge ordered a 45-day order to allow time for a different lawyer to talk to him and make sure he really wants to fire his own attorneys - given that the consequences of such a decision are reportedly likely to be lethal.
Last month (7 April), a federal judge received a one-page letter from Robertson just four days before the US state executed its fifth inmate in seven months.
It said Robertson and his lawyer had a difference of opinion.
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Since 'no ethical attorney will withdraw an appeal that will result in their client's execution,' Robertson said he was ready to represent himself.
"Robertson's attorney Emily Paavola responded in court documents that Robertson wasn't taking medication for depression, suffered from chronic back pain and a skin condition that made him more depressed and was distressed over those five executions that dropped the close-knit death row population from 30 to 25," AP news reports.
Out of those five executions included Robertson's best friend on death row, named Marion Bowman Jr., who was killed by lethal injection at the start of this year (31 Jan), Paavola said.
The attorney asked the judge to hold off on Robertson's request for four months so he could have a full psychiatric evaluation to decide if he is mentally competent to make such a decision, resulting in prosecutors suggesting that the judge could talk to the inmate on her own and decide if he was able to act as his own lawyer.
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The outlet added: "Judge Mary Gordon Baker decided to have a different lawyer talk to Robertson, making sure he understands the implications and consequences of his decision and report back by early July."
And this isn't the first time Robertson has fired his lawyers.
Back in 2002, shortly after he arrived on death row, he wanted to drop all his appeals after a friend of his in prison - Michael Passaro, who was sentenced to the death penalty for setting a van on fire with his daughter inside - did the same.
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During a hearing about Passaro's decision to volunteer for the death chamber, Robertson said: "It hasn't changed my view.
"What it did was it made me understand - enhanced reality a bit - to see my best friend go from one day playing cards with me to the next day not being here any more.
"He basically has taken a similar route that I'm choosing to take now and we spoke often about his decision."
The prosecutor who sent Robertson to death row has since said that he can understand why inmates choose to stop fighting their sentences.
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Tommy Pope, now Speaker Pro Tem of the South Carolina House shared: "If you told me - be incarcerated on death row the rest of your life or just go ahead and go to the Lord, you know, I might choose the latter too."
However, Pope said that 26 years ago, he also observed a young man with above average intelligence who likes to work the system when he can and often thinks he is smarter than his attorneys.
"As usual with Jimmy, it will remain to be seen how it plays out until the very end," he resolved.