Opinion ID: 1387806
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: expert witnesses will determine the ultimate issue

Text: Professionals with specialized training in psychiatry or psychology will have to determine whether the defendant is mentally retarded according to the medically accepted definition. A person with an IQ test score of 70 or below is classified as mentally retarded. Id. The experts will be called upon to testify, and according to our rules of evidence: Expert opinion testimony on issues to be decided by the jury, even the ultimate issue, is admissible where the conclusion of the expert is one which jurors would not ordinarily be able to draw for themselves; i.e., the conclusion is beyond the ken of the average layman. [Cits.] [ Smith v. State, 247 Ga. 612, 619 (277 SE2d 678) (1981).] Because the conclusion is beyond the ken of the average layman[,] Id. experts will determine the ultimate issue. Once it is shown that the criminal defendant's IQ test score is 70 or below and the expert has testified that the defendant is mentally retarded, the accused has made a prima facie case and the burden shifts to the State to refute it. However, there is nothing to refute. Once it is established that the IQ test score is 70 or below and the expert testifies that one with an IQ of 70 or below is mentally retarded there is nothing that the State can do. The defendant's counsel, at this juncture, can make a motion for a directed verdict as to the defendant's retardation. The fact that the expert could and might wish, in some cases, to also testify that the defendant's mental retardation did not prevent him from being able to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his conduct is irrelevant and will not be allowed. Once the expert states that the defendant is mentally retarded, the inquiry ends.