|
|
| Texas Killer Gets Stay of Execution |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 08/19/2002 |
|
A white supremacist convicted of murdering a man he met in a bar was granted a reprieve August 9, four days before his scheduled execution, so hearings could be held to determine whether he is mentally retarded. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest court in criminal cases, ordered Brian Edward Davis' case returned to Harris County for the hearings. Davis was scheduled to die by lethal injection on August 13. Davis, 33, a parolee with a history of violence that began in grade school, was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing Michael Foster of Houston in 1991. He inscribed the victim's body with a swastika and initials of a skinhead group. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing mentally retarded inmates is unconstitutional. Davis did not offer a mental retardation defense during his trial, but Davis' attorney, Greg Wiercioch, said he does not believe that will hurt his appeal's prospects. 'Mental retardation is not something you can waive. You can't execute mentally retarded people,' he said. As defined by the American Association of Mental Retardation, mental retardation has three factors: below average intellectual functioning, usually an IQ of 70 or below; 'poor adaptive skills,' such as inability to hold a job or communicate with others; and the onset of symptoms before age 18. Wiercioch said Davis was tested with an IQ of 74 as a teenager and can prove a pattern of poor adaptive skills. He said the IQ test's five-point margin of error could put Davis below the threshold. Davis becomes the second Texas death row inmate to receive a stay of execution from the state's courts so that claims of retardation could be considered in light of the Supreme Court decision. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
I like learning more about prison reforms from this great website that has housed excellent articles on the topic. If I want to learn more about these important topics I know to contact Hamilton Lindley about more of this information because I know that I’ll get a fair answer.