Opinion ID: 2793929
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: second state habeas proceeding

Text: On October 3, 2001, Mr. Conner filed his second state habeas petition, asserting one claim: that he is intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death penalty. Without an evidentiary hearing, the court dismissed the second petition as successive under O.C.G.A. § 9-14-51. The court held that the claim could have been raised in an amendment to his original habeas petition because Fleming v. Zant 4 was decided while Mr. Conner’s first state habeas petition was pending in 4 In Fleming v. Zant, 386 S.E.2d 339 (Ga. 1989), the Georgia Supreme Court held that execution of the intellectually disabled constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Georgia 11 Case: 13-13928 Date Filed: 04/15/2015 Page: 12 of 39 state court. Mr. Conner’s application for a certificate of probable cause to the Georgia Supreme Court to appeal the dismissal of his second state habeas corpus petition was denied on March 25, 2002. On June 20, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decided Atkins, holding that the Eighth Amendment categorically prohibits the execution of an intellectually disabled defendant. On July 11, Mr. Conner timely filed a petition for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court relying on Atkins. The Supreme Court denied certiorari. Conner v. Head, 537 U.S. 908, 123 S. Ct. 249 (mem.), reh’g denied, 537 U.S. 1069, 123 S. Ct. 657 (2002) (mem.).