MATHENIA, CHARLES L.

GENERAL INFORMATION

DOB: September 14, 1958
Race: White
Gender: Male

CRIME AND TRIAL

TRIAL COUNSEL: Donald Hager, Lew Kollias, Kate Markey

LEGAL STATUS:

Current proceedings:

Motion to recall the mandate pending in the Missouri Supreme Corut, asserting that Mr. Mathenia cannot be executed under Atkins v. Virginia because he is mentally retarded.

Last judicial decision:

Missouri Supreme Court's unpublished denial, without prejudice, of motion to recall the mandate and petition habeas corpus. (Motion asserted that Mr. Mathenia was mentally retarded under Atkins v. Virginia, but the Associate Circuit Court of Washington County had earlier found him incompetent to be executed).

CURRENT COUNSEL:

Sean D. O'Brien
Kent E. Gipson
Public Interest Litigation Clinic
305 East 63rd Street
Kansas City, MO 64113
816-363-2794

REPORTED OPINIONS:

Denial of Rule 60 motion, construed as pre-AEDPA successive petition, affirmed by Mathenia v. Delo, 99 F.3d 1476 (8th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 521 U.S. 1123 (1997).
Denial of habeas affirmed by Mathenia v. Delo, 975 F.2d 444 (8th Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 995 (1993).

Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by Mathenia v. State, 752 S.W.2d 873 (Mo. App. E.D. 1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1019 (1989).
Conviction and sentence affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Mathenia, 702 S.W.2d 840 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 477 U.S. 909 (1986).

SIGNIFICANT LEGAL ISSUES:

Mr. Mathenia's competence to be executed and possible mental retardation.
Diminished capacity and validity of defendant's Miranda waiver in light of mental retardation and involuntary intoxication, and trial counsel's failure to litigate these issues
Trial counsel's limited presentation of mitigating witnesses
Curing of vagueness "outrageously horrible, wanton or vile" aggravator through finding that defendant tortured victims