About 300 veterans are on death row nationwide, about 10 percent of all those condemned to die, according to a report from the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes capital punishment, NBC News reported.
It's unclear how many have been diagnosed with PTSD or have symptoms, but Robert Dunham, the center's executive director, said that in too many cases, a veteran's mental scars are not examined closely enough.
The case of Courtney Lockhart, an Iraqi war veteran now on Alabama's death row, is highlighted in the report. The defense argued that Lockhart, who was dishonorably discharged, was suffering from untreated PTSD and wasn't in his right mind when he abducted, robbed and fatally shot college student Lauren Burk in 2008.
The Alabama jury rejected the prosecution's call for the death penalty and sentenced him to life. But a judge overrode the panel's decision and put him on death row.
The Death Penalty Information Center said its report was meant as a "wake-up call" to spark conversation about imposing capital punishment on trauma survivors.
