Opinion ID: 2377543
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Evidence substantiating adaptive behavior deficits

Text: The defense experts opined that Ybarra showed adaptive behavior deficits in several areas of his life based on his victimization at school; his record of menial, minimum-wage, supervised jobs; the lack of evidence that he had lived independently; the short duration of his military service; and other professionals' observations regarding Ybarra's behavior when confronted with an excess of information or affective stimuli. But as the district court found, those considerations did little to demonstrate adaptive behavior deficits. And rather than disregarding that testimony, the district court found much of it to be incredible given other evidence in the record, all of which is carefully delineated in the district court's thorough written order. We conclude that the district court was in the best position to assess the credibility of the experts' testimony, and, although Ybarra disagrees with the district court's findings related to adaptive deficits, substantial evidence supports the district court's finding that Ybarra did not meet his burden of proving this element of mental retardation.