ATLANTA – Legislation that would make it easier for defendants in death penalty cases to establish intellectual disability as a defense cleared a Georgia House committee Wednesday.
“Georgia is the only state in our nation that is executing those with intellectual disabilities,” Rep. Bill Werkheiser, R-Glennville, chief sponsor of House Bill 123, told members of the House Judiciary Committee (Non-Civil).
Werkheiser’s bill would make two changes to the state law governing death penalty cases involving defendants claiming they suffer from an intellectual disability, defined as having an IQ below 70.
First, the burden of proof to establish such a claim would be eased from proving an intellectual disability “beyond a reasonable doubt” to proving it “by a preponderance of the evidence.”
“That is an impossible hurdle,” Werkheiser said of the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard.
Second, the legislation would remove the determination of whether a defendant in a capital case has an intellectual disability from the guilt phase of the trial. Instead, that determination would take place following a pre-trial hearing.
Werkheiser said having those two phases of a death penalty case considered at the same time – including details surrounding the crime – could inflame a jury against a defendant.
“The facts of a crime and the question of intellectual disability are completely separate questions,” added Michael Admirand, a staff attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights. “(If) you separate those two decisions, you lower the risk that someone with an intellectual disability will be executed.”
Charlotte Dunsmore, director of public policy for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, said the bill wouldn’t affect many death penalty cases because less than 1% of the population has been diagnosed with an intellectual disability.
However, there have been instances where Georgia has executed someone with an intellectual disability. Last year, the state put to death Willie Pye, convicted in the 1996 kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder of his ex-girlfriend in Spalding County. Pye had an IQ of 68.
“(House Bill 123) will bring Georgia in line with other state’s standards of evidence for determining that an individual has an intellectual disability,” Dunsmore said.
Randy McGinley, district attorney for the Alcovy Judicial Circuit – which includes Newton and Walton counties – told the committee he opposes the bill because the Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the current law.
“The Georgia law is constitutional,” he said. “It works fine. It works well.”
McGinley went on to specify that he does not oppose changing the standard of proof to establish a defendant in a capital case has an intellectual disability. However, he argued that changing the process by allowing pre-trial hearings in such cases would make the death penalty very difficult for prosecutors to seek.
Under the bill, which now heads to the House Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote, motions to hold a pre-trial hearing to determine whether a defendant has an intellectual disability would be subject to the court.