|
USA - Texas. Randall Mays taken off death row over intellectual disability
March 27, 2024: MARCH 27, 2024 - Texas. Randall Mays taken off death row over intellectual disability
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals re-sentenced 64-year-old Randall Mays on death row to life in prison without parole on Wednesday after a state expert confirmed in trial court that he is intellectually disabled.
Mays was sentenced to death in 2008 for the murder of 2 sheriff's deputies, but in the years since his legal team has filed multiple appeals arguing he is exempt from execution due to his mental competency and intellectual disability.
Over two decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment’s restriction of cruel and unusual punishments, which the criminal appellate court cited in its resentencing decision.
“The evidence of Randall's intellectual disability is overwhelming. He has a 63 IQ. His intellectual deficits have been seen, and observed by others, throughout his life from childhood to military service, and throughout his adulthood,” Benjamin Wolff, the director of the Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs, said in a statement on Wednesday. An expert hired by the state confirmed those findings, the office said.
The state public defender’s office that represents people on death row in post-conviction proceedings has represented Hays since 2015. Mays is also represented by the law firm Haynes and Boone and the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Dallas.
The Henderson County District Attorney did not dispute Mays’ intellectual disability.
Mays was convicted of killing sheriff’s Deputy Tony Price and Paul Habelt on May 17, 2007 after the officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at his property in Payne Springs.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/27/randall-mays-death-penalty-intellectual-disability/ (Source: Texas Tribune, 27/03/2024)
|
