KHQ-TV carries the AP report, "Death-row inmate may get reprieve," from Lewiston, Idaho.
A death-row inmate who says he's mentally disabled may get a reprieve.
Lewis County Prosecutor Kimron R. Torgerson says a tentative agreement has been reached that would allow George Junior Porter to be released from prison in three years.
Porter was sentenced to be executed by lethal injection for the 1988 beating death of his girlfriend.
The 52-year-old Porter has been on Idaho's death row since 1990. He says he's mentally disabled with an IQ near 70 and that makes him ineligible for execution.
The state had contended Porter's IQ is 76.
Torgerson says the agreement reached Wednesday would allow Porter to plead guilty to second-degree murder and be released from prison Dec. 5, 2013.
Related posts are in the mental retardation index. More on Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court's 2002 ruling banning the execution of those with mental retardation, is via Oyez.
As I've pointed out before, mental retardation is now generally referred to as a developmental disability. Because it has a specific meaning with respect to capital cases, I continue to use the older term.
Comments