Georgia top court to hear appeal of death row inmate

Georgia's Supreme Court today will hear an appeal in the case of a man on death row, and the question of the man's mental capacity. James Randall Rogers was convicted for the 1980 brutal beating death of his 75-year-old neighbor in Floyd County. Rogers landed on death row before a 1988 Georgia law that bans the execution of the mentally retarded. The question of Rogers' mental capacity came before a jury in a 2005 trial--the jury ruled that Rogers was not mentally retarded. Rogers' lawyers in today's appeal will argue that multiple errors by the trial judge denied their client a right to a fair trial.

Hospital danger for young mentally ill

Young mentally ill children in Georgia psychiatric hosptials are often in the same housing as teens charged with dangerous crimes--that according to state officials. Regulators from the Department of Human Resources wrote seven years ago of concern for small and powerless children who could not defend themselves in the state hospitals.

Regulators investigated complaints from two adolescent patients who said they were attacked by other teens at Central State Hospital. Reports say that violent teens with criminal records in overcrowded conditions and with a lack of staffing, leads to an atmosphere of fighting and sexual assaults.

State officials say they have taken steps to separate patients by age groups, but more needs to be done.