Opinion ID: 1684698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: kentucky statutes.

Text: The relevant Kentucky statutes provide inter alia: KRS 532.130. Definitions for KRS 532.135 and 532.140. . . . (2) A defendant with significant subaverage intellectual functioning existing concurrently with substantial deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period is referred to in KRS 532.135 and 532.140 as a seriously mentally retarded defendant. Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning is defined as an intelligence quotient (I.Q.) of seventy (70) or below. KRS 532.135. Determination by court that defendant is mentally retarded. (1) At least thirty (30) days before trial, the defendant shall file a motion with the trial court wherein the defendant may allege that he is a seriously mentally retarded defendant and present evidence with regard thereto. The Commonwealth may offer evidence in rebuttal. (2) At least ten (10) days before the beginning of the trial, the court shall determine whether or not the defendant is a seriously mentally retarded defendant in accordance with the definition in KRS 532.130. (3) The decision of the court shall be placed in the record. (4) The pretrial determination of the trial court shall not preclude the defendant from raising any legal defense during the trial. If it is determined the defendant is a seriously mentally retarded offender, he shall be sentenced as provided in KRS 532.140. KRS 532.140. Mentally retarded offender not subject to executionAuthorized sentences. (1) [N]o offender who has been determined to be a seriously mentally retarded offender under the provisions of KRS 532.135, shall be subject to execution. The same procedure as required in KRS 532.025 and 532.030 shall be utilized in determining the sentence of the seriously mentally retarded offender under the provisions of KRS 532.135 and KRS 532.140. (2) The provisions of KRS 532.135 and 532.140 do not preclude the sentencing of a seriously mentally retarded offender to any other sentence authorized by KRS 532.010, 532.025, or 532.030 for a crime which is a capital offense. (3) The provisions of KRS 532.135 and 532.140 shall apply only to trials commenced after July 13, 1990. In summary, our statutory scheme (1) prohibits the execution of a seriously mentally retarded offender, defined by the same three criteria established by the AAMR and the American Psychiatric Association and approved in Atkins, KRS 532.130(2); [8] (2) defines the criterion of significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning as an IQ of 70 or below, id.; (3) places the burden on the defendant to allege and prove that he or she qualifies for the exemption, KRS 532.135(1), but does not establish the standard of proof applicable to that burden; (4) requires that the issue be decided by a trial judge at least ten days prior to trial, KRS 532.135(2); and (5) is not retroactive but applies only to trials commenced after July 13, 1990, the effective date of the Act. It does not address (6) the time frame, if any, at which a finding of mental retardation is relevant, other than that the determination must be made prior to trial, not, e.g., prior to execution; and (7) what showing, if any, is required to trigger entitlement to an evidentiary hearing on the issue.