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News and Developments 2007: Mental Retardation

Mario Marquez, IQ of 65, Executed in Texas in 1995

Posted: August 02, 2007
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Unanimous California Ruling Allows Broad Interpretation of Mental Retardation

Posted: April 19, 2007
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The California Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a defendant may be spared the death penalty because he is mentally deficient in one area, even if his IQ score falls in the normal range. The decision gives judges broader discretion to spare defendants from execution for reasons of mental impairment and clarifies a 2005 ruling that allowed those on death row to challenge their sentences on the grounds of mental retardation.

Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Crime that Sent an Innocent Man to Death Row

Posted: April 12, 2007
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Kenneth Tinsley pleaded guilty on April 11 to the 1982 rape and capital murder of a Culpeper woman - a crime for which another man, Earl Washington Jr., spent nearly a decade on death row and was nearly executed.  Tinsley admitted to the rape of Rebecca Lynn Williams, a 19-year-old mother of 3, and conceded that DNA and other evidence could have proved his guilt of her murder.

Possibly Mentally Retarded Man to be Executed in Texas, Where Almost All 2007 Executions Have Occurred

Posted: April 06, 2007
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If James Lee Clark is executed in Texas on April 11, he will be the 12th Texas inmate executed out of 13 executions nationwide in 2007.  According to some psychological tests, Clark has an IQ of 68 or lower, which is one of the common criteria for mental retardation.  Clark's defense team has asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Rick Perry to halt the execution because of the likelihood that Clark suffers from mental retardation.