Vietnam vet hopes to be spared looming death penalty because of PTSD

In a petition filed Monday with the Butts County Superior County, Brannan’s attorneys are requesting the Brannan’s life be spared because it violates the U.S. Constitution.

The appeal states that “executing American combat veterans whose service-related mental impairments played a role in subsequent violent conduct violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and analogous provisions of the Georgia Constitution.”

The document goes on to say “death is inappropriate for those with diminished capacities to understand and process information, to communicate, to abstract from mistakes and learn from experience, to engage in logical reasoning, to control impulses, and to understand the reactions of others.”

Kyle Dinkheller’s father, Kirk Dinkheller, posted on his Facebook page earlier this month that “January 12, 2015 it will be 17 years since my son Kyle was murdered in the line of duty and on January 13, 2015 his killer will finally be held accountable. Nothing will ever bring my son back, but finally some justice for the one who took him from his children and his family.”

Brannan is scheduled to die of lethal injection at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday.

CNN