The Shadow
RICHMOND (AP) – A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday on two Virginia death row inmates’ claims that they can’t be executed because they are mentally retarded, rejecting one appeal and sending the other back to a judge for further review.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent Leon J. Winston’s case back to federal court in Roanoke to consider his retardation claim. A separate panel rejected a similar appeal by Darick Demorris Walker.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing the mentally retarded amounts to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. Winston and Walker both cited that case, Atkins v. Virginia, in their appeals.
Winston, of Fairfax County, was convicted of the 2002 slayings of Anthony and Rhonda Robinson in Lynchburg. Rhonda Robinson was pregnant at the time of the murder, and her 4-and 8-year-old daughters watched her die.
At his trial, Winston’s attorneys attempted to portray their client’s background as deprived. They did not pursue a retardation claim, even though an expert had described him as mildly retarded. The only three intelligence quotient test scores they had at the time put Winston slightly above 70, the legal threshold for mental retardation in Virginia.
Winston’s appellate lawyers later found another IQ test on which he scored 66. The appeals court said that score should be considered at a new hearing.
Walker’s appeal did not involve IQ tests but centered on a second measure of retardation – severe limitations in his ability to function in society. Walker claimed that his difficulties reading, writing, holding a job and other “adaptive behavior” limitations showed he was mentally retarded.
However, an expert for the state offered a conflicting view. He said evidence suggested Walker had people read to him because it was more convenient, not because he was unable, and that he had quit several jobs but wasn’t fired because of his inability to perform. The expert also said Walker’s criminal record showed he was able to conceive and execute plans.
The appeals court said that given the conflicting testimony, it could not say a judge was plainly wrong in rejecting Walker’s claim.
Walker was sentenced to death for fatally shooting Stanley Beale and Clarence Threat after breaking into their Richmond homes in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
