Henderson v. Stephens

Petitioner, convicted of capital murder, appealed the district court's denial of federal habeas relief on his claim that he is ineligible to be executed because he is intellectually disabled. Considering all of the evidence presented at the Atkins v. Virginia hearing, the court concluded that it was not unreasonable for the TCCA to conclude that petitioner failed to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he satisfied the Ex parte Briseno test for adaptive behavioral deficits. The court concluded that it is not necessary for the court to address petitioner’s arguments that the state court’s findings on significantly subaverage intellectual functioning and onset before age 18 are unreasonable. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Henderson v. Stephens" on Justia Law