A death row inmate whose case led to the Supreme Court's ban on executing the mentally retarded was found mentally competent by a Virginia jury. A judge immediately scheduled his execution for December.
Daryl Atkins, 27, flashed a peace sign to his family and blew a kiss as he was led from the courtroom Friday after the verdict was read.
Three years ago, Atkins' case had led to the landmark US Supreme Court ruling that declared executing the mentally retarded to be unconstitutional. The court, however, left it up to states to determine whether inmates are retarded.
The Virginia jury deliberated for 13 hours over two days before determining Atkins was not retarded.
If the jury had deemed Atkins retarded, he would have been spared execution and instead sentenced to life in prison for the robbery and slaying of an Air Force enlisted man over beer money.
York County prosecutor Eileen Addison said she agrees with the Supreme Court's ruling on executing the mental retarded, but she said Atkins' was "the wrong case."
"We never disagreed that he was probably a slow learner," she said. "That's not the same as being mentally retarded."
Atkins' lawyers maintained they had established their client's mental retardation.
"People in this community rejected that. We don't know why," attorney Richard Burr said.
During a court proceeding that the judge said was unique in judicial history, defense lawyers had portrayed Atkins' mental abilities as so limited he was cut from the football team because he couldn't understand the plays.
The prosecution blamed his poor performance in school on the use of drugs and alcohol, and said the claim of mental retardation was a ploy to avoid execution.
Both sides called on expert witnesses who disagreed on whether Atkins fell into the category of mentally retarded.
An IQ of 70 or less by the age of 18 is required to be considered mentally retarded in Virginia, which also takes into account social skills and the ability to care for oneself. Atkins had scores of 59, 67, 74 and 76 on IQ tests, but they were given when he was older than 18.
Atkins was 18 when he and William Jones killed Airman 1st Class Eric Nesbitt, 21. Nesbitt was abducted outside a convenience store, forced to withdraw money from an automated teller machine and driven to a desolate road, where he was shot eight times.
Prosecutors said Atkins was the triggerman. A plea agreement was reached with Jones, who testified against Atkins and received a life sentence.
Atkins' case has been closely watched by civil rights activists, in part because the jury did not include any blacks and Atkins is black. The jurors declined to comment after the verdict was read.
Eighteen states already had laws on the books exempting the mentally retarded from execution before the Supreme Court's ruling in Atkins' case. Eight, including Virginia, have revised their laws to comply with the ruling.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS