"Katrina evacuee on Texas death row gets life term," is the AP report, via the CT Post.
A Louisiana man's death sentence in Texas has been reduced to life in prison without parole in the killing of a woman who helped him when he relocated after Hurricane Katrina.
Attorneys for 50-year-old Roosevelt Smith Jr. contended he's mentally impaired and ineligible for execution under Supreme Court guidelines.
A state-appointed psychologist determined Smith was impaired. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday agreed.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling in Ex Parte Smith is available in Adobe .pdf format.
The case involved expert witness testimony by disgraced Texas psychologist George Denkowski; past coverage of Denkowski begins at the link. Earlier coverage of Texas' application of Atkins is also available.
More on Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court's 2002 ruling banning the execution of those with mental retardation, is via Oyez. Related posts are in the mental retardation index.
As I often point out, mental retardation is now generally referred to as a developmental or intellectual disability. Because it has a specific meaning with respect to capital cases, I continue to use the older term.
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