I urged him to listen to both sides. Under the bill, if the jury did not determine a person was mentally retarded, a defense attorney could petition the judge to consider the issue. Two experts would be assigned to make a determination. If the evidence shows the person is mentally retarded, the judge would be required to issue a sentence of life in prison. I think the state of Texas should go on record with a bill banning the execution of mentally retarded people.
Victims see it another way.
They fear that if the bill becomes law, it will trigger a rash of death row appeals from inmates claiming to be retarded. Her aunt, Pamela Mosley Carpenter, was raped and killed in 1979 by John Paul Penry. I ask you to stand on the side of Texans. Penry, who has been on death row since 1980, this week had his death sentence thrown out when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the jury was not properly instructed about his mental retardation. Proponents say the bill is needed to protect mentally retarded killers who do not know the difference between right and wrong.