Opinion ID: 618946
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Atkins background

Text: Under Tennessee law, capital defendants are considered mentally retarded if (1) they have “[s]ignificantly subaverage general intellectual functioning as evidenced by a functional intelligence quotient (I.Q.) of seventy (70) or below; (2) [they have d]eficits in adaptive behavior; and (3) [t]he intellectual disability must have been manifested during the developmental period, or by eighteen (18) years of age.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-203(a). Each side presented conflicting evidence concerning whether Black qualifies as mentally retarded. At Black’s post-conviction proceedings on his Atkins claim, he presented four lay and three expert witnesses, the affidavit of another expert, and numerous exhibits in support of his claim. The State presented two expert witnesses in opposition. In addition, the state court considered the testimony of numerous lay and expert witnesses who testified during the course of Black’s pre-Atkins proceedings.
One major category of evidence dealt with Black’s numerical I.Q. scores. In its post-conviction opinion on Black’s Atkins claim, the TCCA observed that Black’s intelligence has been tested numerous times, from his grade-school years through 2001. Black v. State, No. M2004-01345-CCA-R3-PD, 2005 WL 2662577, at  (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Oct. 19, 2005). These scores can be grouped into the following three categories: (1) tests that were administered while Black was in elementary school, with the scores ranging from 83 to 97; (2) tests that were taken in preparation for Black’s trial and during his first round of post-conviction proceedings, from 1988 to 1997, which ranged from 73 to 76; and (3) tests that were administered in 2001 by Black’s experts who testified at his Atkins hearing, which ranged from 57 to 69. In addition, Black took achievement tests in high school. Dr. Daniel Grant, a psychologist and one of Black’s expert witnesses, explained that Black’s scores on the Differential Aptitude Test in the ninth grade placed his level of intelligence in the mentally retarded range. Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 7 A major point of contention in the present case, and an issue that the TCCA did not resolve, is which set of scores most accurately reflects Black’s level of intelligence by the time he was 18 years of age. Although Black’s first set of I.Q. scores were taken during this key period of his life and are above 70, his experts challenge the accuracy of these scores based on the sparse information concerning the testing details as well as the questionable supervision of Black’s academic progress at his segregated elementary school. Black’s I.Q. scores from 1988 through 1997 were also above 70, but Dr. Grant opined that, when adjusted for the “Flynn Effect” and/or the standard error of measurement (SEM) that applies to these tests, these scores should be considered 70 or below. As Dr. Grant explained, the Flynn Effect calls for adjusting downward the score that a subject receives on an older I.Q. test based on the idea that the general population’s level of knowledge increases over time, thereby raising the average score obtained on older tests. Dr. Patti van Eys, a clinical psychologist who submitted an affidavit regarding her evaluation of Black, noted that the Flynn Effect is “broadly accepted by the psychological community and recognized by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR).” On the other hand, State witness Dr. Susan Vaught, a clinical psychologist, testified that although the Flynn Effect is a recognized issue that a clinician might consider when interpreting an I.Q. test, she did not think that it should be used to adjust the numerical score that a subject received on his or her test. She explained that “[y]ou don’t apply a numerical correction to a score that you get based on the Flynn Effect. It’s not in that kind of use amongst clinicians who test[].” Dr. Eric Engum, the other clinical psychologist for the State, also rejected the practice of correcting for the Flynn Effect because “[o]ne cannot arbitrarily . . . go back in time and ‘correct’ or ‘recalculate’ a previously obtained IQ based on [subsequent] changes in standardization.” As for the SEM, Dr. Grant testified that because the I.Q. score achieved on any particular test is fallible, the scores generally involve a SEM of five points up or down from the given score. Dr. Vaught similarly stated in her report that it is “typical and Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 8 expected” under the prevailing standard of practice “to consider the [SEM] for any given test in order to determine if a patient’s score could fall below 70.” The experts also disagree about the relevance of Black’s 2001 I.Q. scores. Dr. Vaught conceded that, based on these most recent I.Q. scores, Black “currently meets the first criterion for mental retardation.” Black, 2005 WL 2662577, at . But she and Dr. Engum were suspicious of the scores’ validity based on comparisons to other indications of Black’s level of intelligence. They suspected that Black was malingering (i.e., artificially deflating his scores) during these later tests. Black’s experts, on the other hand, specifically determined that he was not malingering, and they were highly critical of the opinion of the State’s experts that Black was malingering based solely on the written record, without having personally interviewed him. Black’s experts determined that his I.Q. fell in the mentally retarded range by the time he was age 18, but the State’s experts disagreed. Dr. Vaught, in particular, noted that although Black’s poor academic performance was “highly suggestive of learning disability or borderline intellectual capacity,” she found “no compelling evidence that the lower-functioning picture I see now in Mr. Black’s intellectual testing emerged prior to 18.”
Another key point of contention is whether Black suffered from brain damage at an early age. Dr. Albert Globus, an expert in psychiatry and neurology who examined Black in 2001 in order to assess his competency to stand trial, reexamined him just before the state court’s post-conviction hearing. In addition, Dr. Ruben Gur, an expert in neuropsychology, testified in a video deposition taken after the hearing regarding the cause of Black’s brain damage. Both Drs. Globus and Gur concluded, based on MRI and PET-scan images of Black’s brain, that Black has extensive brain damage that was likely caused by his mother’s drinking alcohol while pregnant, but might also have been caused by other occurrences during his childhood. Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 9 The State does not contest that Black currently has brain damage. But the source of his condition is highly disputed. This point is important to the assessment of Black’s level of intelligence by the time he was age 18. If his current brain damage existed at an earlier stage of his life, then his current level of intelligence is all the more probative of his intellectual capacity at that earlier stage because any symptoms resulting from his brain damage would have also been present earlier on. Moreover, if Black’s brain was damaged earlier in his life, that determination would impact the credibility of the conclusion by the State’s experts—who never personally met with Black—that he was malingering on his recent I.Q. tests. Rather than offer an alternative explanation for his brain damage, the State argues that Black did not sufficiently prove that his brain damage was caused by the time he was age 18. 3. Expert assessments of Black’s adaptive deficits In addition to assessing Black’s numerical I.Q. level, the various expert witnesses at his state post-conviction Atkins hearing testified regarding his level of adaptive functioning. These experts explained how Black functions in society and when his relevant characteristics manifested themselves. They dispute whether Black displays adaptive deficits and, if so, when these problems arose. Black’s experts explained that he has difficulty interacting according to ordinary social conventions and that he is paranoid, delusional, naive, and inappropriately happy. They also determined that he has deficits in his communication and functional academic skills and that he displays symptoms of various psychiatric disorders. Based on Black’s childhood experiences, as well as the alleged early onset of his brain damage, Black’s experts concluded that he had adaptive deficits by the age of 18. But the State’s experts determined that Black displayed adequate skills across a variety of practical, social, and intellectual categories of behavior. Although they thought that Black had various personality problems and that he might suffer from various mental disorders, they did not think that Black qualified as mentally retarded. The State’s experts also determined that to the extent Black displayed adaptive deficits, he either strategically presented himself in that way (according to Dr. Engum) or had Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 10 deteriorated more recently and therefore did not display these characteristics by the age of 18 (according to Dr. Vaught). After recounting some of the expert testimony on these issues, the TCCA concluded that Black did not meet his burden of proof to show that he had sufficient deficits in his adaptive behavior by the age of 18. 4. Lay witnesses Black presented four lay witnesses at his Atkins post-conviction hearing to testify regarding various aspects of his social and educational history. Mary Smithson-Craighead, who started working as an administrator at Black’s elementary school in 1965 and was in charge of Black’s grade level for, at most, a year and a half, testified regarding the conditions at Black’s school. Black’s sister, Melba Corley, talked about Black’s upbringing. Al Dennis, Black’s high school football coach, discussed Black’s experience on the football team. Finally, Richard Corley, Black’s brother-in-law, testified about Black’s job as a courier at an insurance company. Both sides draw on various aspects of these witnesses’ testimony to support their respective positions concerning Black’s level of intellectual functioning and his adaptive behavior by the age of 18. 5. Prior decisions on Black’s Atkins claim The state trial court determined that Black’s post-conviction Atkins claim merited an evidentiary hearing. At this evidentiary hearing, Black had the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that he met Tennessee’s definition of mental retardation under Atkins. After the hearing concluded, the court summarized what it viewed as the determinative evidence from the voluminous record and, based on this evidence, denied Black’s Atkins claim for post-conviction relief. The TCCA affirmed the trial court’s rejection of Black’s claim. In its “Analysis” section, the TCCA mostly reviewed, without taking a stance on, the conflicting expert assessments of the factual record. But the TCCA did recognize that, according to Black’s experts, the Flynn Effect and/or the SEM brings his middle set of I.Q. scores into the mentally retarded range. Based on Howell v. State, 151 S.W.3d 450, 457 (Tenn. Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 11 2004), however, the TCCA determined that it was prohibited from considering these scientific concepts in assessing Black’s numerical I.Q. score. The TCCA’s assessment of the factual record also makes clear that it was skeptical of the opinions of Drs. Globus and Gur regarding when Black’s brain damage occurred. But the TCCA did not go so far as to make a definitive factual conclusion regarding the date of onset of Black’s brain damage. The court also discounted Dr. Grant’s conclusion that Black displayed deficits in his adaptive behavior because, although Dr. Grant observed that Black had never engaged in a number of commonplace activities, “there is no proof in the record that [Black] was unable to do these things.” Black, 2005 WL 2662577, at . It also pointed out that none of Black’s childhood I.Q. scores fell in the mentally retarded range. But the TCCA reached its ultimate conclusion that “the proof in the record simply does not support that [Black’s] I.Q. was below seventy or that [Black] had deficits in his adaptive behavior prior to age eighteen” without stating which pieces of evidence were essential to its conclusion. Id. at . In denying habeas relief to Black on his Atkins claim, the district court approvingly referenced the TCCA’s rejection of the application of the Flynn Effect and the SEM based on Howell. It also concluded, based on a review of how other jurisdictions have dealt with the Flynn Effect, that the TCCA’s rejection of these concepts did not render the state process arbitrary, unreasonable, or less than full and fair. The district court further rejected Black’s three remaining arguments in support of his Atkins claim. First, the court determined that the TCCA’s discounting of Dr. Grant’s adaptive-deficits assessment did not render the state court’s decision unreasonable. It found no basis to question the TCCA’s ruling that, although the record indicated that Black had not performed the commonplace daily tasks mentioned by Dr. Grant, there was no showing that Black could not perform these tasks. Second, the court concluded that because Black had not shown that an aptitude test is equivalent to an I.Q. test, his low ninth-grade Differential Aptitude Test scores did not mean that his I.Q. was 70 or below by age 18. Nos. 02-5032; 08-5644 Black v. Bell Page 12 Finally, the district court noted that “the evidence before the state court . . . may or may not indicate that [Black’s brain damage] existed and caused mental retardation” by the time Black was 18 years of age. The court based this observation on its determination that Drs. Globus and Gur were unable to point definitively to the cause of Black’s brain damage or establish that this injury was the cause of Black’s mental retardation. It also quoted the TCCA’s reference to “Dr. Vaught’s testimony explaining the difference between mental illness and mental retardation, and her conclusion that [Black’s] early difficulties were likely caused by mental health issues or learning disabilities, rather than mental retardation.”