Opinion ID: 805977
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sub-average intellectual ability

Text: Under Murphy, a capital defendant’s IQ score is used both to establish eligibility for a mental-retardation determination and as evidence to support a finding of subaverage intellectual ability. Hooks Atkins Appeal, 126 P.3d at 640. An IQ score of 70 or below meets the threshold requirement. See id. It is also strong evidence of sub-average intelligence. See Atkins, 536 U.S. at 309 n.5 (“[A]n IQ between 70 and 75 or lower . . . is typically considered the cutoff IQ score for the intellectual function prong of the mental retardation definition.”); id. at 316 (suggesting that “a national consensus has developed against” the execution of “offenders possessing a known IQ less than 70”); Murphy, 54 P.3d at 568 (“Intelligence quotients are one of the many factors that may be considered, but are not alone determinative.”). Mr. Hooks has been subjected to IQ testing throughout his life, and the Atkins jury was presented with nine of his IQ scores. These scores were obtained from tests administered over a thirty-four-year period, between 1970 and 2004, and they ranged from 53 to 80.7 On direct appeal of the jury verdict, the OCCA concluded: 7 The nine IQ scores presented to the jury and the OCCA on appeal were as follows (identified by year, the type of IQ test, and the score): 1970 SB score of 80, 1972 WISC score of 70, 1978 WAIS score of 61, 1979 WAIS score of 57, 1982 BETA-II score of 61, 1988 WAIS score of 80, 1994 WAIS-R score of 72, 2002 K-BIT score of 76, and 2004 WAIS-III score of 53. Mr. Hooks also points us to a WAIS-III score of 67, obtained in testing in 2006. However, because this evidence was not before the OCCA on direct appeal, we are barred from considering it. See Pinholster, 131 S. Ct. at 1398; 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2). The (continued...) -20- The experts agreed this range of scores put Hooks in a “gray area”. The tests of 70 and below all reflected some degree of lack of cooperation on Hooks’s part, from variable attention span to refusal to respond. Two of them were obtained after Hooks suffered the trauma of an accident and his father’s death, which could have caused him to test lower than his actual intellectual level. The expert witnesses agreed that the most reliable scores were those obtained by Dr. Gelbort and Dr. Cowardin, with results of 72 and 76. Neither of these scores meets the “seventy or below” requirement in Murphy, although Dr. Gelbort’s results are within that range using the standard error of measurement (a five-point range on either side). Given the other testimony, it was not unreasonable for jurors to determine that the most reliable IQ evidence offered did not fall within the first prong of the Murphy definition, functioning at a significantly sub-average intellectual level. A rational trier of fact could have found that Hooks failed to meet this burden by a preponderance of the evidence. Hooks Atkins Appeal, 126 P.3d at 640–41 (footnote omitted). Mr. Hooks assails this conclusion in two ways. First, he contends that four of his IQ scores (scores of 80, 80, 61 and 76) “are of limited value and lack reliability.” Aplt. Opening Br. at 25. We shall call this group of scores the “First Group.” Second, after tossing out the above four scores, Mr. Hooks contends that the remaining five (scores of 70, 61, 57, 72, and 538)—what we shall call the “Second Group”—must be adjusted downward for a statistical phenomenon known as the Flynn Effect. After adjustment, the 7 (...continued) OCCA did consider the 2006 score in collateral proceedings, but only in the context of Mr. Hooks’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel at the Atkins trial. See Hooks Atkins Collateral, slip op. at 8–9. (Specifically, Mr. Hooks claimed that Atkins counsel was ineffective for failing to obtain a more updated score.) However, the 2006 score cannot enter into our calculus in assessing the OCCA’s decision to uphold the jury verdict. 8 As noted, Mr. Hooks also points to the additional IQ score of 67 obtained in 2006, but we do not consider it. See supra note 7. -21- five scores become 63, 54, 50, 67, and 50, respectively—all well below Murphy’s threshold of 70. On this view of the evidence, Mr. Hooks argues that the OCCA’s finding that he is in a “gray area” was unreasonable. We note that the First Group includes the K-BIT score of 76 and the Second Group includes the WAIS-R score of 72, both obtained by Mr. Hooks’s own experts (Dr. Nancy Cowardin and Dr. Michael Gelbort, respectively) and deemed by the OCCA, based on the opinions of experts from both sides, to be the “most reliable” of all the IQ scores. Hooks Atkins Appeal, 126 P.3d at 640. Mr. Hooks does not contest that conclusion. With respect to the K-BIT score, he contends only that “caution” must be used in interpreting the score because Dr. Cowardin’s test was “not meant to substitute for a comprehensive intelligence test.” Aplt. Opening Br. at 26. But Dr. Cowardin was Mr. Hooks’s own expert, and her testing formed the basis for her conclusion that Mr. Hooks is mildly mentally retarded. See 4 M.R. at 116.9 Mr. Hooks’s other expert, Dr. Gelbort, relied on Dr. Cowardin’s report and his own evaluation to opine that Mr. Hooks is mildly mentally retarded, see 3 M.R. Tr. at 112–13, although even he admitted that Mr. Hooks fell into a “gray area,” id. at 95. Finally, the State’s expert, Dr. Terese Hall, thought the evaluations by Drs. Cowardin and Gelbort were “the best testing we have.” See 5 M.R. Tr. at 42. The OCCA found that many of the other scores, particularly those on the low end, posed reliability problems. That finding is presumed correct, and in any event, our independent 9 Throughout this opinion, we employ the abbreviation “[volume number] M.R. Tr.” to refer to a particular volume of the six-volume transcript of the Atkins trial. -22- review of the record confirms it. See 3 M.R. at 23, 44, 47–49 (Test. of Dr. Beck); id. at 86–88, 94–95, 174–75 (Test. of Dr. Gelbort); 4 M.R. at 111–12 (Test. of Dr. Cowardin); 5 M.R. at 19–20, 38–41 (Test. of Dr. Hall). Accordingly, it was not unreasonable for the OCCA to find the K-BIT and WAIS-R scores the “most reliable” and to accord them greater weight. Mr. Hooks asserts that the Second Group of scores, including the WAIS-R score of 72, must be downwardly adjusted for the Flynn Effect. The Flynn Effect is a phenomenon named for James R. Flynn, who discovered that the population’s mean IQ score rises over time, by approximately 0.3 points per year. Under his theory, if an individual’s test score is measured against a mean of a population sample from prior years, then his score will be inflated in varying degrees (depending on how long ago the sample was first employed) and will not provide an accurate picture of his IQ. See, e.g., Walton v. Johnson, 440 F.3d 160, 177 n.22 (4th Cir. 2006) (en banc) (“The premise of the ‘Flynn Effect’ is that IQ scores increase over time and that IQ tests that are not renormed to take into account rising IQ levels will overstate a testtaker’s IQ score.”); James. R. Flynn, Tethering the Elephant: Capital Cases, IQ, and the Flynn Effect, 12 Psychol. Pub. Pol’y & L. 170, 172 (2006) [hereinafter Flynn, Tethering the Elephant] (“Naturally, judges want to know whether defendants were actually two standard deviations below their peers at the time they were tested and not how they rank against a group selected at some random date in the past.” (emphasis added)). See generally James R. Flynn, The Mean IQ of Americans: Massive Gains 1932 to 1978, 95 Psychol. Bull. 29 (1984). Flynn -23- posited that a downward adjustment to scores is necessary when a test without current norms is used. See Flynn, Tethering the Elephant, supra, at 174–75. However, neither Murphy nor its progeny requires an adjustment for the Flynn Effect, see Murphy, 54 P.3d at 567–68; see also Smith, 245 P.3d at 1237 n.6 (“[U]nder the Oklahoma statutory scheme, the Flynn Effect, whatever its validity, is not a relevant consideration in the mental retardation determination for capital defendants.”), and the OCCA did not address its relevance on direct appeal. It mentioned it briefly on collateral review, stating that “some experts noted Hooks’s reliable score of 72 could have been slightly inflated [due to the Flynn Effect].” Hooks Atkins Collateral, slip op. at 8–9. The only Flynn Effect evidence presented to the Atkins jury came from the testimony of Dr. Gelbort, who noted that the Flynn Effect is a “well-researched and published” phenomenon, 3 M.R. Tr. at 159, and suggested that “people who talk about the Flynn Effect would argue” that certain of Mr. Hooks’s IQ scores are “a little higher than [they] ought to be,” id. at 219–22, due to the non-current population samples that were used to normalize (i.e., derive a population mean for) his scores. Mr. Hooks argues that the OCCA’s failure to account for and apply the Flynn Effect was “contrary to Atkins because it fails to deal with the real [IQ] scores.” Aplt. Reply Br. at 7. The OCCA’s failure to account for and apply the Flynn Effect was not “contrary to” or “an unreasonable application of” clearly established federal law, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1), because the threshold requirement—the existence of clearly established federal law—is not met here. See House, 527 F.3d at 1015. Atkins does not mandate an -24- adjustment for the Flynn Effect. Moreover, there is no scientific consensus on its validity. See Thomas v. Allen, 607 F.3d 749, 757 (11th Cir. 2010) (“[T]he Flynn effect is a statistically-proven phenomenon, although no medical association recognizes its validity.”); Frank M. Gresham & Daniel J. Reschly, Standard of Practice and Flynn Effect Testimony in Death Penalty Cases, 49 Intell. & Developmental Disabilities 131, 131, 136–37 (2011) (arguing that the Flynn Effect is “a well-established psychometric fact” that should be accounted for in IQ testing, but noting the lack of a consensus in the clinical community on its use). In addition, federal and state courts are divided over the use of the Flynn Effect, and “there is no uniform consensus regarding the application of the Flynn effect in determining a capital offender’s intellectual functioning.” Thomas, 607 F.3d at 757–58 (collecting cases); see also Maldonado v. Thaler, 625 F.3d 229, 238 (5th Cir. 2010) (“[N]either this court nor the [Texas Court of Criminal Appeals] has recognized the Flynn Effect as scientifically valid.”). Even if this Circuit were prepared to take a side in this debate and hold that, under Atkins, the Flynn Effect must be considered in determining whether a defendant is mentally retarded, we could not do so on habeas review. “No decision of th[e Supreme] Court . . . squarely addresses the issue . . . .” Wright v. Van Patten, 552 U.S. 120, 125 (2008) (per curiam). “Because [the Court’s] cases give no clear answer to the question presented, let alone one in [Mr. Hooks’s] favor,” id. at 126, it cannot be said that the OCCA’s failure to consider and apply the Flynn Effect is contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. -25- We are left, then, with a number of IQ scores, some below and some above a score of 70. We do not believe this set of scores unquestionably qualifies Mr. Hooks as significantly sub-average in intellect. Given the reliability problems associated with many of the scores and the strong reliability of the scores of 72 and 76 from Mr. Hooks’s own experts, we agree that Mr. Hooks falls into a “gray area.” Hooks Atkins Appeal, 126 P.3d at 640 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Atkins, 536 U.S. at 309 n.5 (“[A]n IQ between 70 and 75 or lower . . . is typically considered the cutoff IQ score for the intellectual function prong of the mental retardation definition.”). A rational trier of fact could conclude from this evidence that Mr. Hooks indeed functions at a sub-average intellectual level, but it could also rationally draw the conclusion that he does not. Cf. Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 574 (1985) (“Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder’s choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous.”). Accordingly, it was not an unreasonable application of Jackson for the OCCA to find that Mr. Hooks’s evidentiary burden was not met and to uphold the jury verdict.