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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
Atkins v. Virginia
Citation:
536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335.
ProfessorScott Caron
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The petitioner was convicted of several crimes arising from a night in which he, along with someone else, abducted, robbed, and killed a man. At his sentencing hearing, a forensic psychologist who had evaluated the petitioner before trial testified that he was “mildly mentally retarded.” This conclusion was based on interviews with people who knew the petitioner, a review of school and court records, and the administration of a standard intelligence test which indicated that the petitioner had a full scale IQ of 59. The jury sentenced him to death.
The Virginia Supreme Court ordered a second sentencing hearing, and the death sentence was affirmed. He appealed, arguing that his death sentence is a cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment, due to his intellectually disability.
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