Texas Court Declines To Stop Execution Of Man With An IQ Of 67

Rober Ladd has too severe an intellectual disability to be executed, his attorneys contend. He is scheduled to be executed in Texas at 6 p.m. CT.

AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice

After the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday denied a motion to stay his execution, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing Ladd, filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

His lawyers said that Ladd has an intellectual disability and an IQ of 67 and would be considered ineligible for the death penalty in any other state.

The Supreme Court ruled in two landmark cases that executing inmates with intellectual disabilities is a violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

However, Ladd does not meet Texas courts' standards for intellectual disability, which, the ACLU said, were based in part on the character of Lennie Small in John Steinbeck's book Of Mice and Men.

"Anywhere else in the country, Mr. Ladd's IQ of 67 would have meant a life sentence, not death," Brian Stull, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project who is representing Ladd, said in a statement.

Stull added that Texas courts "insist on severely misjudging" Ladd's intellectual capacity, citing the intellectual disability standards that were "crafted from Of Mice and Men and other sources that have nothing to do with science or medicine."

"Robert Ladd's fate shouldn't depend on a novella," Stull said.

The ACLU has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' decision.

Ladd is also a defendant in a separate lawsuit that questions the "quality and viability" of Texas' supply of its lethal injection drug, pentobarbital. According to the lawsuit, there were concerns that the state's dwindling supply of compounded pentobarbital was no longer viable and would cause Ladd excruciating pain, violating the Eighth Amendment.

An appeal to grant a temporary stay of execution was rejected by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, which suggested that the Supreme Court was the best venue to decide the issue, the Associated Press reported.

Garner, 38, was "borderline mentally retarded" and worked at the Andrews Center, which helped people with intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses employment. She was found raped and beaten to death at her home, according to court documents. Her house had also been burglarized and set on fire.

Prior to her death, Garner's legs and wrist had been bound by a cord.

Before Garner's death, Ladd had served 16 years of a 40-year sentence for the 1978 murder of a woman and two children. Their house was also set on fire.

When he was 13, Ladd was first labeled "fairly obviously retarded" by the Texas Youth Commission, his appeal stated. In an affidavit, the psychiatrist confirmed his initial diagnosis of mental retardation after Ladd's IQ test and three interviews. Ladd logged an IQ score of 67.

At age 36, Ladd also qualified for services at the Andrews Center, the ACLU said.

"Robert Ladd's life is full of evidence of his intellectual disability, and he doesn't belong on death row," Stull said.

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