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ATLANTA – Legislation that would make it harder for the State of Georgia to execute those with developmental disabilities cleared the House Judiciary Non-civil Committee late Thursday afternoon.
“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.
