Attorneys for Bobby Wayne Woods are seek­ing to delay his December 3 exe­cu­tion because of his tri­al lawyer’s incom­pe­tent rep­re­sen­ta­tion and the fact that Woods is men­tal­ly retard­ed. Woods’ cur­rent lawyer is ask­ing the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a 60-day reprieve so that it can assess Woods’ men­tal com­pe­ten­cy for exe­cu­tion. Attorney Maurie Levin, an adjunct law pro­fes­sor at the University of Texas, said that the pri­or lawyer failed to plead Woods’ men­tal dis­abil­i­ty, and, accord­ing to the clemen­cy peti­tion filed for Woods, “(the for­mer attor­ney) has been sus­pend­ed by the state bar and rebuked by and sus­pend­ed from prac­tice in the fed­er­al courts for his egre­gious mis­steps and incom­pe­tence as an appel­late and post-con­vic­tion attor­ney for those con­demned to death.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that defen­dants with men­tal retar­da­tion can­not be executed.

(C. Lindell, ​“Shoddy legal work alleged as exe­cu­tion nears,” Austin American-Statesman, December 1, 2009). Read more about Atkins v. Virgnia. See also Mental Retardation and Representation.

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