[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---TEXAS, PENN., DEL., MD., N.C., FLA., ALA.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 20



TEXAS----female loses appeal

Killer of baby-sitter denied appeal by state


Texas' highest criminal court denied an appeal Wednesday from an East Texas 
woman who was sentenced to death for killing her developmentally disableld 
babysitter 4 years ago.

Prosecutors at Kimberly Cargill's 2010 trial said she was facing a child abuse 
investigation and killed Cherry Walker to keep her from testifying at a custody 
hearing. Cargill said Walker suffered a seizure and died while Cargill was 
driving her home. She said she panicked and set the body on fire to get rid of 
any of her own DNA that might have been on it.

In her appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Cargill, of Whitehouse, 
argued that the evidence against her wasn't sufficient to justify a capital 
murder charge, that the trial judge improperly allowed some testimony and that 
her legal cousel was insufficient. Cargill can pursue federal appeals. She is 
among 7 women on death row in Texas.

(source: Dallas Morning News)

******************

2 witnesses recant in death penalty case


2 witnesses whose testimony helped send a Harris County man to death row in 
2007 have recanted their statements, saying they were pressured to lie by 
prosecutors and investigators, the man's attorney said.

Antonio Williams, sentenced to death row for a 2006 double murder, was falsely 
indentified by 2 eyewitnesses who came forward earlier this month to say they 
were pressured to lie by prosecutors and investigators, lawyers for Williams 
said Wednesday. In a flurry of court records filed over the past 2 weeks 
appealing the conviction, attorneys for Williams say the 2 women who saw the 
shooting on Aug. 5 2006 were told to identify Williams despite their claim that 
the killer was a man named Keith with dredlocks with blonde tips.

(source: Houston Chronicle)





****************************

Stay denied--death row inmate said to be delusional


A Texas judge has refused for a 2nd time to delay the next month's scheduled 
execution of a convicted murderer whose attorneys say is severely delusional 
and ineligible for the death penalty.

State District Judge N. Keith Williams in Gillespie County refused Wednesday a 
renewed request by attorneys for convicted killer Scott Panetti that Panetti's 
Dec. 3 execution date be reset or withdrawn. Williams rejected a similar appeal 
last week.

The 56-year-old Hayward, Wisconsin, man faces lethal injection for the fatal 
shootings of his in-laws 22 years ago at their home in Fredericksburg in the 
Texas Hill Country.

Panetti's lawyers contend his long-diagnosed mental illness appears to have 
worsened since his last evaluation seven years ago and more time is needed to 
determine if he's competent now for execution.

*************************

US judge approves execution of mentally ill man


A Texas judge on Wednesday refused to postpone the scheduled execution of a 
convicted killer who suffers from mental illness and is set to face lethal 
injection on 3 December.

Scott Panetti, who has had schizophrenia for 3 decades, has won support for his 
case of groups such as Mental Health America, psychiatrists, former judges and 
prosecutors, evangelical Christians.

The European Union urged Texas Governor Rick Perry to grant Panetti clemency.

"The execution of persons suffering from a mental disorder is contrary to 
widely accepted human rights norms and is in contradiction to the minimum 
standards of human rights set forth in several international human rights 
instruments", the bloc wrote in its letter.

Still, district judge Keith Williams refused to give attorneys more time to 
re-evaluate whether Panetti was criminally responsible for the 1995 killing of 
his wife.

"As an obviously severely mentally ill man with schizophrenia, Mr Panetti 
should never have been allowed to represent himself in his death penalty case", 
his attorney Kathryn Kase said.

He "should not have been allowed to reject a plea deal that would have saved 
his life. Now, Mr Panetti must not be executed without a competency hearing.

"This is the last chance to prevent an injustice from turning into an immoral 
tragedy."

Though individual US states choose whether they will implement the death 
penalty, in 1986 the US Supreme Court barred execution of the mentally ill as 
cruel and unusual punishment.

(source: News24.com)

***********************

My schizophrenic brother is about to be executed in Texas even though the U.S. 
Supreme Court has held that the Constitution forbids the execution of mentally 
ill people.


My brother Scott is a mentally ill man with schizophrenia set to be executed in 
Texas on December 3, 2014. Even though the Supreme Court has held that the 
Constitution forbids the execution of severely mentally ill individuals who do 
not understand the reason for their punishment, Scott will die in just 2 weeks 
unless Governor Rick Perry commutes his sentence to life in prison.

Now 56, Scott still suffers severely from schizophrenia. He was diagnosed in 
1978 and later began having delusions that he was engaged in spiritual warfare 
with Satan. Over the years he became obsessed with the idea that the devil was 
in his house. In 1992, he suffered a psychotic break and killed his wife's 
parents.

Having a brother on death row is like having a terminally ill family member. 
But there's one big difference: we can???t stop a terminal illness, but we can 
stop Texas from killing a mentally ill man.???

I started a petition asking Governor Rick Perry to spare Scott's life by 
commuting his sentence to life in prison. Click here to sign it: 
https://www.change.org/p/gov-rick-perry-spare-my-brother-s-life-a-severely-mentally-ill-man-on-death-row?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=184236&alert_id=wnitUxlRVV_E8nQ8pQ6utifTipXHxorFedtcNBxcwY8tvDPcjx8%2Bcw%3D

I know it's hard to see beyond the fact that Scott took 2 lives - but he 
suffers from a severe illness that changed the way his mind works. He doesn't 
understand fact from fiction. He's still my big brother, the strong and 
handsome sailor who served in the Navy.

Despite his long history of mental illness, the judge did not allow Scott's 
medical records as evidence so jurors could not take his mental illness into 
account. Scott was even allowed to represent himself at trial. He wore a 
TV-western cowboy costume in court and called hundreds of people as witnesses - 
including the Pope, John F. Kennedy, and Jesus Christ. He even passed up a plea 
deal that would have saved his life.

Scott committed a terrible crime but he is not a cold-hearted killer. He is a 
very sick person who has suffered from severe mental illness for more than 30 
years. In the decade leading up to the killings he was hospitalized more than a 
dozen times due to psychotic behavior.

Please sign my petition asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to 
recommend that Scott's death sentence be commuted to life in prison and 
Governor Rick Perry to grant the commutation.

Vicki Panetti

(source: change.org)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Poconos' murder might not have been his 1st----Convicted killer tells 
investigators he 'might have' killed 5 women in Texas


Did a Tobyhanna man, now sentenced to death for killing and dismembering a 
Scranton woman, murder other women prior to this case?

That's what Texas (state) investigators are trying to verify.

Charles Hicks Jr., 40, was convicted Friday of 1st-degree murder in the January 
2008 death of Deanna Null, 36, and sentenced Tuesday to death.

Hicks will be formally sentenced in January, but has the right to appeal the 
conviction and sentence if he chooses to do so. If he exercises his appeal 
rights, he won't be executed until after he has exhausted the appeal process, 
which could take years.

Null was last seen in January 2008 in Scranton, getting into a car driven by a 
male believed to be Hicks. Days later, her dismembered remains were found in 
trash bags dumped along Monroe County highways.

The investigation eventually led to Hicks, who was charged in March 2008 after 
Null's severed hands were found in his home.

Hicks said he didn't kill Null. He said they were doing drugs together when she 
overdosed and that he got rid of her body, instead of reporting her death, out 
of fear of losing his job over a drug arrest.

Prior to the trial, First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso, who 
prosecuted Hicks, was in contact with the Rangers law enforcement agency in 
Texas, where Hicks lived prior to moving to the Poconos at the end of 2007.

The Texas Rangers have been investigating Hicks in connection with several 
other women's murders, said Mancuso. These murders, the earliest of which date 
back to the 1990s, involve varying degrees of beating, or other forms of 
torture, and dismemberment, along with one or more of the bodies being left 
nude, all similar to what was done to Null.

On Friday, after Hicks was convicted, Mancuso made an offer to Hicks' defense 
attorney, Jason LaBar.

If Hicks gave the Rangers truthful details about the other murders and agreed 
to waive all of his post-conviction appeal rights in the Monroe County and 
Texas cases, he would be spared the death penalty in the Monroe County case and 
in any of the Texas cases in which he would be charged, tried and convicted of 
1st-degree murder, Mancuso told LaBar.

The trial's penalty phase, where the jury decides whether to sentence the 
convicted defendant to death or life in prison without parole, had not yet 
begun. If Hicks agreed to the offer and gave the Rangers truthful details about 
the Texas murders, Mancuso would then tell Monroe County President Judge 
Margherita Patti Worthington the prosecution was no longer seeking the death 
penalty and request Worthington cancel the trial's penalty phase, dismissing 
the jury.

LaBar relayed Mancuso's offer to Hicks, who agreed to it.

At 8 p.m. Monday, the 1st day of the trial's penalty phase, the Rangers, having 
arrived in the Poconos, began what would be a 4-plus-hour interview with Hicks. 
The Rangers purposely withheld details about the murders they were 
investigating and instead had Hicks provide information to see if his details 
matched theirs.

Hicks ended up providing limited information about five cases which turned out 
to be different from the ones the Rangers were investigating, according to 
Mancuso and LaBar. Hicks said he assaulted and "might have" killed 5 women of 
whom, it turned out, the Rangers were unaware.

"He said the women were in 'pretty bad shape' when he left them," LaBar said.

Mancuso said it seemed like Hicks was playing a game with the Rangers to see 
what they knew.

"He would backtrack when questioned on details about particular murders and 
say, 'Yeah, that's my work, or 'No, that's not my work,'" Mancuso said. "Toward 
the end of the interview, he finally admitted to two murders the Rangers seemed 
more able to link him to. So, they're now investigating the cases they were 
looking into before, plus these 5 different cases he brought up, and trying to 
confirm his involvement to the point where they can officially charge him in 
any of them. I won't be surprised if he does get charged."

In the end, Mancuso and the Rangers were dissatisfied with what Hicks had given 
them and withdrew their offer to take the death penalty off the table in Null's 
case. The trial's penalty phase continued and the jury imposed a death 
sentence.

"He had his chance," Mancuso said.

Hicks' family continues to support him and is devastated that he has been 
sentenced to death. The family has described him as a good but troubled man 
whose demons led him to illegal drug use and other poor choices causing his 
current situation.

Overwhelmed by another relative's recent death, Hicks being sentenced to death 
and the resulting news publicity, the family declined to comment when contacted 
at their home Wednesday.

(source: Pocono Record)

*****************

Prosecutors offered Hicks a deal to avoid death penalty


The Monroe County district attorney's office considered dropping the death 
penalty against Charles Ray Hicks in exchange for information on murders he's 
suspected of committing in Texas, but he failed to provide sufficient 
information to seal the deal, a county detective said.

Detective Wendy Serfass on Wednesday said Mr. Hicks is a suspect in the 
unsolved homicides of several women in the area of Fort Worth, Texas. Following 
his conviction last week for the murder of Deanna Null of Scranton, prosecutors 
said they would consider dropping efforts to secure a death sentence for Ms. 
Null's murder if he provided information on the Texas cases.

Mr. Hicks met with an official with the Texas Rangers on Monday and admitted to 
killing five women. Prosecutors decided not to withdraw the death penalty, 
however, because he did not live up to the agreement that had been reached, 
Detective Serfass said.

"There was an offer made that, if he disclosed what happened in our case here 
and provided information - he's been a suspect in Texas for some time - then 
there would be talk of removing the death penalty from the cases," Detective 
Serfass said. "He didn't give complete information and believable information."

Detective Serfass said she could not discuss what information Mr. Hicks did and 
did not provide, but it "did not satisfy the agreement" he made with 
prosecutors.

Mr. Hicks, 40, of Coolbaugh Twp., lived in Burleson, Texas, prior to moving to 
Pennsylvania. A Monroe County jury on Friday found him guilty of 1st-degree 
murder and several other offenses for the 2008 death and dismemberment of Ms. 
Null, 36.

Prosecutors said Mr. Hicks severely beat Ms. Null, then began dismembering her 
body while she was still alive. The crime was discovered after parts of Ms. 
Null's body were found in garbage bags strewn along Interstates 80 and 380 in 
Monroe and Lackawanna counties.

The death penalty phase, which is separate from the trial, began Monday. Jurors 
had the option to sentence Mr. Hicks to life without parole or death. They 
deliberated for nearly 7 hours Tuesday before returning the death sentence.

Detective Serfass did not reveal the identity of the women in Texas Mr. Hicks 
is suspected of killing.

Sgt. Lonny Haschel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, 
confirmed the Texas Rangers are working with authorities in the Dallas/ Fort 
Worth area to investigate Mr. Hicks' statements. He said the investigation is 
ongoing.

Daniel Segura, spokesman for the Fort Worth Police Department, said a member of 
the department's cold case unit plans to meet with authorities who interviewed 
Mr. Hicks to gather more details. No further information was available 
Wednesday.

Mr. Hicks' attorney, Monroe County Public Defender Jason Labar, did not return 
a phone message Wednesday seeking comment. Monroe County District Attorney 
David Christine and First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso, who 
prosecuted the case, also did not return phone messages.

Whether or not Texas authorities will be able to use the information Mr. Hicks 
provided to prosecute him there will be dependent upon the specific details of 
the agreement he reached, said attorney Al Flora Jr., the former chief public 
defender for Luzerne County who has handled numerous death penalty cases.

Mr. Flora, who is not involved in the Hicks case, said he suspects Mr. Hicks 
gave a "proffer," a statement in which a defendant offers certain information 
on a crime in exchange for some sort of consideration from prosecutors.

"It may be he provided information that did not rise to the level the 
prosecution expected. If he breached the terms of the agreement, the district 
attorney can take it off the table," Mr. Flora said.

If there is a dispute over whether Mr. Hicks breached the deal, that issue 
could be raised on appeal of his death sentence, Mr. Flora said.

"If there was a dispute if he breached the agreement or not, the lawyer could 
raise a challenge and ask the court to enforce the terms of the agreement," he 
said. "The court would have to hold a hearing, take evidence and make a 
ruling."

(source: The Times-Tribune)






DELAWARE:

Death penalty debate pits police versus police


John Breckinridge admits he was wracked by a need for retribution.

Breckinridge, a retired police officer from Manchester, New Hampshire, watched 
in October 2006 as his partner, Michael Briggs, was shot and killed after 
responding to an early-morning report of gunfire.

Breckinridge wanted the killer to face death for his crime.

But his anger led to depression and a strained marriage, problems punctuated by 
the stress of a capital murder trial.

"I was giving control of my life to that anger," Breckinridge told a small 
crowd at St. Joseph Parrish in Middletown on Wednesday, where he spoke out 
against capital punishment in Delaware. "It's not worth it."

Cops are on both sides of a renewed debate to repeal Delaware's death penalty.

Opponents of the death penalty are again gearing up ahead of a General Assembly 
session in January, attempting to generate support by holding town halls this 
week in Bear and Middletown. A 3rd and final town hall is planned at 7 p.m. 
Thursday at Wesley United Methodist Church in Dover.

Repeal advocates have turned to retired police officers from outside of 
Delaware, including Breckinridge, to headline the events, helping counter 
almost universal opposition from Delaware law enforcement groups that helped 
sink repeal legislation last year.

Senate Bill 19, which would have ended capital punishment in Delaware, passed 
the Senate by the narrowest of margins before languishing in the House 
Judiciary Committee.

Police from out of state "have frankly more freedom to speak their mind than 
those men or women who serve in Delaware," said Ti Hall, campaign manager for 
the Delaware Repeal Project, a coalition backed by the ACLU, the Delaware 
Center for Justice, the NAACP and other groups.

"We respect law enforcement, we respect the job they do, we respect their 
bravery," Hall said in an interview. "Not all police officers are for the death 
penalty. Delaware deserves a full dialogue."

Hall says repealing the death penalty makes sense for moral but also economic 
reasons, considering the cost borne by taxpayers of prosecuting and defending 
lengthy capital punishment cases.

Fliers advertising the repeal town halls this week read "It's true: Police 
support repeal."

That didn't ring true for Fred Calhoun, president of Delaware's Fraternal Order 
of Police, where he represents almost 2,500 officers working for local, county 
and state law enforcement agencies.

"None of the officers who I represent, no law enforcement officers I'm in 
contact with, are in favor of the repeal," Calhoun says.

Lt. Tom Brackin, president of the Delaware State Troopers Association, said law 
enforcement in Delaware is united against any efforts to repeal the death 
penalty or even make more modest changes to the system.

Last year's legislation included an amendment, attached during Senate debate, 
that called for Delaware to end the death penalty only after killing the 17 
current members of death row.

"We are OK with the death penalty as it is now," said Brackin, who believes 
capital punishment provides a deterrant for violent criminals. "We don't see 
any need for any changes.

A new debate over capital punishment comes just weeks after Delaware voters 
elected a new attorney general, the state's top law enforcement officer.

Police groups supported Lt. Gov. Matt Denn's campaign for attorney general, 
though it's unclear what role Denn might play in any repeal in Dover.

Denn supports the death penalty in certain cases but says executions should 
only be carried out after a jury unanimously recommends a sentence of death.

It's a position opposed by law enforcement but one that does not go far enough 
for repeal advocates.

"Neither side has asked me to be involved, probably because my position doesn't 
fall neatly into one camp or the other," Denn said. "My position is on the 
record and it's pretty well known to both sides. If someone wants me to explain 
it, I'll certainly do that."

House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said repeal advocates must be willing to 
compromise, or the repeal could fail again in the House.

Schwartzkopf talked about potetential amendments that would link capital 
punishment to the presence of DNA evidence, or apply the death penalty only in 
cases that involved the killing of a police or correctional officer.

"If you're not willing to talk about it," said Schwartzkopf, a former State 
Trooper, "we're not changing our votes."

(source: The News Journal)






MARYLAND:

New sentences for death row inmates


Maryland has 4 inmates on death row. In 2013, though, the General Assembly 
repealed the state's authority to carry out executions. According to a report 
from the Capital News Service, 2 of those 4 inmates are currently seeking to 
have their sentences changed, a move with which we would agree.

CNS reporter Max Bennett wrote that Heath William Burch - on death row since 
1996 for a double homicide - is seeking a commutation of his death sentence 
from Gov. Martin O'Malley to life without the possibility of parole. Attorneys 
for Jody Lee Miles, on the other hand, are asking Maryland's highest court - 
the Court of Special Appeals - to vacate Miles' death sentence. His attorneys 
are seeking a sentence of life with the possibility of parole.

Miles' attorneys are joined by Maryland's attorney general, Douglas Gansler, in 
seeking a court review of the sentence. But while Miles' attorneys are hoping 
to get the convicted murderer a second chance at life through a lesser sentence 
allowing for the possibility of parole, as well as access to work, education 
and rehabilitation programs, Gansler wants to ensure the rest of Miles' days 
are spent behind bars.

"People should understand: Life without parole is a death sentence," Bennett 
reported Gansler saying at a news conference, "You're dying in jail. You're 
coming out in a box. It might just not be as soon as it otherwise would be if 
you had the death penalty."

In his brief to the Court of Special Appeals, Gansler states that the repeal 
act clearly calls for a review of finalized death penalty cases only when the 
sentence can be commuted to life without parole, not, as Miles' attorneys 
argue, as a chance to potentially become a free man again or move to a 
lower-security facility.

"The legislature decided that society???s interest in retribution and 
punishment for Miles??? heinous crime is fulfilled by a sentence of life 
without the possibility of parole, when a jury previously determined that Miles 
should receive the maximum possible penalty of death," states Gansler's brief 
to the Court of Special Appeals.

According to a news release from Gansler's office, in 1998, Miles was convicted 
of murdering Edward Joseph Atkinson, a musical theater director, in Wicomico 
County. Miles was tried in Queen Anne's County Circuit Court.

Both Burch and Miles have been on death row for nearly 20 years. Their 
convictions and sentencing were only the start of a very lengthy legal process 
leaving victims' families without the closure for which they hoped.

Atkinson's family still seeks solace. According to the Daily Times' Vanessa 
Junkin, Atkinson's mother, Dottie Atkinson, spoke at a news conference Nov. 6 
about the potential for the murderer of her son to have his sentence commuted. 
She reportedly talked of the ups and downs of the appeal process, as well as 
her disappointment in the latest twist in the case.

"It's been like a roller coaster ride to us," Junkin reported Dottie Atkinson 
as saying. "It's been appeal after appeal, and we get some hope each time and 
then all of a sudden - all these appeals have been in our favor - and then all 
of a sudden we get this news."

Those who say it is cheaper to execute such criminals rather than pay for them 
to live out their lives behind bars are generally incorrect because, as Miles' 
case shows, the appeals process is so long. Keeping them locked up is less 
costly than the mountain of legal costs associated with all those years of 
appeals.

"Evidence shows that the death penalty is not a deterrent, it cannot be 
administered without racial bias, and it costs three times as much as life in 
prison without parole. What's more, there is no way to reverse a mistake if an 
innocent person is put to death," O'Malley said in a statement last year after 
the House of Delegates fell in line with the state Senate in repealing the 
death penalty.

We were pleased that, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, 
Maryland became the 6th state in 6 years to abolish the death penalty. There is 
no outcome more final than death and, for us, there are too many questions - 
moral, ethical and other - to be comfortable with government-sanctioned 
executions. The sentences of Maryland's four death row inmates should be 
changed.

(source: Opinion; myeasternshoremd.com)



NORTH CAROLINA:

Suspect to face death penalty


Donald Eric Kincaid will face the death penalty for the August bludgeoning 
deaths of 2 women and a young man.

Prosecutors in the case will proceed with a capital murder case against 
Kincaid, according to officials with Burke County Clerk of Courts. Kincaid's 
current defender is Victoria Jane. A capital case requires a defendant have 2 
attorneys. A 2nd defender has yet to be appointed, according to the clerk of 
courts office.

Kincaid was charged in the murders of Barbara Ann Johnson, 54, Johnson's son, 
Freddie Charles Thompson, 21, and Zakiya El Bey, 75, who were found dead the 
morning of Aug. 10 in a home at 419 1/2 W. Concord St. in Morganton. Police 
said the victims died from blunt force trauma.

Search warrants said Burke County Emergency Services responded to a call at the 
home just after midnight on Aug. 10 and found Kincaid with what appeared to be 
blood on his nose, ears and glasses. EMS then contacted public safety 
officials, who arrived at the residence to conduct a welfare check and found 
the bodies of Johnson, Thompson and Bey inside, according to the warrants.

Kincaid's next appearance in court is Jan. 12, according to the clerk's office.

(source: The News Herald)






FLORIDA:

Michael Jones could face death penalty if convicted in murder of Diana Duve


A man accused of killing a nurse from Vero Beach could now face the death 
penalty if convicted.

32-year-old Michael Jones is charged with murdering his on and off again 
girlfriend, 26-year-old Diana Duve more than 5 months ago.

Duve's mother says it's the news she needed to hear to get through a tough 
upcoming holiday season.

Lena Andrews and her husband Bill are preparing for their first holiday season 
without their only daughter.

"Holidays will never be the same and we're just waiting for these holidays to 
go by," Lena Andrews said.

In there home, there's not much holiday spirit. This year, pictures of Diana 
take the place of decorations.

"We're thinking about her every second. As a matter of fact, it's the only 
thing I'm thinking about," Andrews said.

Investigators say Diana Duve was murdered by Jones. Her body was found in the 
trunk of her car in Melbourne after she was allegedly strangled by Jones.

"He is so evil that he should have been locked up a long time ago," Andrews 
said."

Andrews says Jones deserves to pay the ultimate price for taking her daughter's 
life.

"Now he's in jail, but he is breathing, eating, sleeping and she is dead."

"I hope that whatever life he has left he is going to suffer everyday for the 
rest of his miserable life."

No trial date has been set for Jones.

(source: WPTV news)






ALABAMA:

Jury deliberating in capital murder trial of Birmingham man whose low IQ 
prohibits death penalty


A Jefferson County jury is deliberating in the case of a Birmingham man accused 
of shooting his ex-girlfriend and another man.

Harold James Burch, 32, was charged with capital murder, attempted murder and 
burglary in the April 2012 shooting of 29-year-old Jacobi Bennett. Burch's 
ex-girlfriend also was shot in the hand.

His trial began with jury selection Monday before Jefferson County Circuit 
Judge Teresa Pulliam.

After about 2 days of testimony, the jury received the case Wednesday 
afternoon. They will resume deliberations Thursday morning. Though Burch is on 
trial for capital murder, he cannot be sentenced to death if convicted, court 
records show.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 in Atkins vs. Virginia that it was 
unconstitutional to execute a mentally retarded defendant.

The Alabama Supreme Court has defined retardation as having an IQ of 70 or 
below with substantial behavior deficits.

Alabama law requires certain criteria for mental retardation as a criminal 
defense: an IQ that is subnormal, deficient ability to behave in society as 
compared to other people a defendant's age, and proof that the condition began 
before a defendant turned 18.

An Atkins hearing was held 2 months before Burch's trial began. One 
psychiatrist's evaluation found that Burch scored 53 on an IQ test.

An evaluation by 2 other doctors with the State Department of Mental Health 
said the test score fell into the "extremely low range of intellectual 
functioning."

Last month, the judge issued a ruling that the case was not eligible for the 
death penalty because Burch met the state's criteria for intellectual 
disability.

(source: al.com)