SB243 Summary

• Establishes procedures for trial courts to determine whether a capital murder defendant qualifies as "an individual with mental retardation" and is therefore ineligible for the death penalty under existing U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

• Defines mental retardation as both significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning manifested by age 18 AND significant limitations in adaptive functioning (in two or more areas such as communication, self-care, social skills, health and safety, work skills) manifested by age 18.

• Requires defendants to prove mental retardation by clear and convincing evidence; an IQ below 70 supports but does not determine the finding, while an IQ of 70 or above supports an inference the defendant is not mentally retarded.

• Allows defendants to file a pretrial motion at least 90 days before trial for a hearing on mental retardation; indigent defendants receive appointed psychological or psychiatric experts, and the state may present its own expert evidence.

• Prohibits retroactive application to previously convicted and sentenced defendants; does not preclude defendants from raising other legal defenses or presenting diminished intellectual capacity as a mitigating circumstance at trial.