He Had Part of His Frontal Lobe Removed...Should He Get The Death Penalty?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/missouri-killer-cecil-clayton-fights-halt-execution-over-brain-damage-n324281

I came across this article on NBCNEWS.com.  It details the case of Cecil Clayton, who killed a police officer in 1996. Twenty-four years earlier, he had 1/5 of his frontal lobe removed due to a workplace injury at a sawmill.  Evidently, this executive dysfunction led to suicidal thoughts, depression, hallucinations, and violent tendencies.

Obviously, I related this article to my knowledge gleaned from Zadina Chapter 7 and the Frontal Lobe Pathway.  The frontal lobe controls, among other things, emotion and judgment.  She even states that 'normal' frontal lobe function is crucial to a good, quality life.  It is difficult to understand why Mr. Clayton did not (as far as we know) snap for over two decades after losing a key part of his brain.  A study by in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry found that, "No study... shows that disorders of prefrontal cortex predict violent crime (Brower & Price, 2001)."

I believe the Supreme Court has a very difficult decision ahead of them.  The research shows dysfunctionality when the frontal lobe is injured through trauma, however, this man is a killer.  I wonder if there are any intensive cognitive behavior therapy for patients who have damaged/lost part of their frontal lobe and if this kind of training would benefit adults as it does children.

References:

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/71/6/720.full

-Jamie Hipp