The Columbia Missourian has, "State's highest court hears death penalty case."
In a case that could alter the prosecution of death penalty defendants who claim mental retardation, lawyers for both sides of the Ernest Lee Johnson murder case delivered their oral arguments before the Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Johnson was convicted of the 1994 murders of three employees of a Columbia Casey’s General Store and was first sentenced to death in 1995.
“The Constitution says that mentally retarded people cannot be executed,” said Elizabeth Carlyle, Johnson’s lawyer, during Wednesday’s hearing.
Lawyers for the state, though, pointed to the verdict of a Pettis County jury and say his execution should go forward.
Assistant Missouri Attorney General Evan Buchheim sought to undermine the credibility of witnesses who have testified in the past that Johnson is mentally retarded.
“There was simply not enough credible evidence to prove that Mr. Johnson was mentally retarded,” Buchheim said. “The jury obviously thought (the evidence) was highly suspect.”
And:
A Los Angeles Times article published in May outlined the patchwork of decisions across the nation. An Ohio man with an IQ of 72, George Williams, is now serving life without parole after a jury was two votes short of the unanimity required for the death penalty. On the other hand, having an IQ of 74 was not enough to persuade a Texas jury to spare James Lee Clark, who was executed in April.
Missouri law requires defendants to prove they are mentally retarded, instead of prosecutors having to prove they’re not.
“The burden of proof is a huge deal in this case,” said Judge Michael Wolff, explaining that a jury could arrive at two different conclusions — with the defendant’s life hanging in the balance — given two different burdens of proof.
During Wednesday’s oral arguments, Judge Stephen Limbaugh asked Carlyle if she thought Missouri’s burden of proof requirement was unconstitutional.
“I believe that’s probably true,” she replied, arguing that it’s similar to self-defense, in which prosecutors shoulder the burden of proof.
David Savage's May 11 report for the Los Angeles Times is posted here. The mental retardation index is here.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has, "Killer appeals his third death sentence."
Twice the Missouri Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence of Ernest Johnson, who killed three people in Columbia, Mo., with a hammer.
On Wednesday, his lawyer asked the court for a third reprieve, on grounds that Johnson is mentally retarded. The state disagreed with that assessment. The case could set the standard for how mental retardation is determined in death penalty cases.
Johnson was convicted in Boone County Circuit Court of bludgeoning to death three convenience store employees on Feb. 12, 1994.
The high court overturned the death sentence in 1998, saying Johnson had an ineffective lawyer. The court threw out Johnson's second death sentence in 2003 because his attorney did not present adequate evidence that he might be mentally retarded.The court relied on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Atkins vs. Virginia. In that 2002 decision, the court held that executing the mentally retarded is unconstitutional. But the court let state legislatures define mental retardation.
Under Missouri law, before criminals can be considered retarded, they must have "significantly sub-average intellectual functioning" with limitations in two "adaptive behaviors" such as social skills, home living, health and safety. The conditions must be documented before age 18.
Wednesday's arguments in the Supreme Court centered on whether Johnson fit those criteria and how far the state must go to disprove such a theory.
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