Low IQ Score a Relevant Mitigating Factor at Capital Sentencing, Even If It Is Not Directly Connected to the Crime and No Other Evidence of Impairment Is Presented
Tennard v. Dretke, 124 S. Ct. 2562 (2004)
In Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court established that a defendant's mental retardation is a potential mitigating factor at capital sentencing. Under Texas law, however, a finding of mental retardation was limited to where there is subaverage general intellectual functioning, concurrent deficits in adaptive behavior, and onset during the early development period...