George Porter
A man sentenced to die by lethal injection for beating to death a Kamiah woman in 1988 says he’s mentally disabled with an IQ near 70, and that makes him ineligible for execution.
George Junior Porter, 53, has been on Idaho’s death row since 1990 for the beating death of his girlfriend, Theresa Jones, 29, at her Kamiah home.
His attorneys on Friday asked for a chance to show their evidence on Porter’s intelligence inside an Idaho Maximum Security Institution courtroom.
Idaho law says that inmates are only considered to be mentally disabled if, before turning 18 years old, they have an IQ of 70 points or less and have significant trouble adapting in at least two life-skill areas, such as self-care, social skills or academics.
The state contends Porter’s IQ is 76. His defense attorneys point to IQ tests taken in his childhood that showed scores dipping as low as 55 and 69 points. The defense says those tests were given because Porter was performing poorly in grade school.
But the state argues that it’s easy to tell Porter isn’t mentally disabled by looking at the court pleadings he filed when he was representing himself, without the help of an attorney.
Second District Judge John Bradbury indicated that an evidentiary hearing may be appropriate to look at all the evidence on Porter’s intelligence. He said Porter’s high school transcripts, which rarely show a grade above a D, already show that he had significant limits to his academic functioning.
Bradbury said he’ll rule before the end of January on whether a hearing is required.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that executing mentally impaired inmates violates the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The Idaho Supreme Court has considered the matter in one other death row case. Last year, the court rejected an appeal by Idaho County double murderer Gerald Pizzuto Jr. after finding his appeal was untimely and failed to prove his mental retardation claims. (AP)
