Opinion ID: 1614209
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: King is mentally retarded as defined by this Court in Chase v. State and is ineligible for the death penalty.

Text: ¶ 17. King asserts that he is mentally retarded pursuant to Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), and, therefore, is ineligible for the death penalty. ¶ 18. In Chase v. State, 873 So.2d 1013 (Miss.2004), this Court clarified the application of Atkins in the trial courts as follows: The Atkins majority cited, with approval, two specific, almost identical, definitions of mental retardation. The first was provided by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR): Mental retardation refers to substantial limitations in present functioning. It is characterized by significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with related limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skill areas: communication, self-care, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, and work. Mental retardation manifests before age 18. Atkins, 536 U.S. at 308 n. 3, 122 S.Ct. 2242, citing Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Support 5 (9th ed.1992). The second was provided by The American Psychiatric Association: The essential feature of Mental Retardation is significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (Criterion A) that is accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning in at least two of the following skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health, and safety (Criterion B). The onset must occur before age 18 years (Criterion C). Mental Retardation has many different etiologies and may be seen as a final common pathway of various pathological processes that affect the functioning of the central nervous system. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 39 (4th ed.2000). Id. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, from which the American Psychiatric Association definition is quoted, further states that mild mental retardation is typically used to describe persons with an IQ level of 50-55 to approximately 70. Id. at 42-43. The Manual further provides, however, that mental retardation may, under certain conditions, be present in an individual with an IQ of up to 75. [n. 18] Id. at 40. Additionally, according to the Atkins majority, it is estimated that between 1 and 3 percent of the population has an IQ between 70 and 75 or lower, which is typically considered the cutoff IQ score for the intellectual function prong of the mental retardation definition. Id. citing 2 Kaplan & Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry 2952 (B. Sadock & V. Sadock eds 7th ed.2000) (emphasis added). n. 18 This point is conceded by the State. However, IQ, alone, does not determine mental retardation. According to the DSM-IV, it is possible to diagnose Mental Retardation in individuals with IQ's between 70 and 75 who exhibit significant deficits in adaptive behavior. Conversely, Mental Retardation would not be diagnosed in an individual with an IQ lower than 70 if there are no significant deficits or impairments in adaptive functioning. These definitions were previously adopted and approved by this Court in Foster v. State, 848 So.2d 172 (Miss. 2003). This Court further held in Foster that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-II (MMPI-II) is to be administered since its associated validity scales make the test best suited to detect malingering. . . . Foster must prove that he meets the applicable standard by a preponderance of the evidence. . . . This issue will be considered and decided by the circuit court without a jury. Id. at 175. These definitions, approved in Atkins, and adopted in Foster, together with the MMPI-II, [n. 19] provide a clear standard to be used in this State by our trial courts in determining whether, for Eighth Amendment purposes, a criminal defendant is mentally retarded. The trial judge will make such determination, by a preponderance of the evidence, after receiving evidence presented by the defendant and the State. n. 19 Although this Court has identified the MMPI-II as a test that should be given, we now clarify our position by stating that the expert should use the MMPI-II, and/or any other tests and procedures permitted under the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, and deemed necessary to assist the expert and the trial court in forming an opinion as to whether the defendant is malingering. Procedure to be used. Having established the definition of mental retardation to be used for purposes of Eighth Amendment protection to mentally retarded defendants, we now turn to the procedure to be used in reaching a determination of mental retardation. We hold that no defendant may be adjudged mentally retarded for purposes of the Eighth Amendment, unless such defendant produces, at a minimum, an expert who expresses an opinion, to a reasonable degree of certainty, that: 1. The defendant is mentally retarded, as that term is defined by the American Association on Mental Retardation and/or The American Psychiatric Association; 2. The defendant has completed the Minnesota Multi phasic Personality Inventory-II (MMPI-II) and/or other similar tests, and the defendant is not malingering. Such expert must be a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, qualified as an expert in the field of assessing mental retardation, and further qualified as an expert in the administration and interpretation of tests, and in the evaluation of persons, for purposes of determining mental retardation. Upon meeting this initial requirement to go forward, the defendant may present such other opinions and evidence as the trial court may allow pursuant to the Mississippi Rules of Evidence. Thereafter, the State may offer evidence, and the matter should proceed as other evidentiary hearings on motions. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant is mentally retarded. The factors to be considered by the trial court are the expert opinions offered by the parties, and other evidence if limitations, or lack thereof, in the adaptive skill areas listed in the definitions of mental retardation approved in Atkins, and discussed above. Upon making such determination, the trial court shall place in the record its finding and the factual basis therefor. Chase v. State, 873 So.2d at 1027-29. ¶ 19. The trial court denied King's motion to determine mental retardation. On appeal, King asserted that the trial court erred by not granting him a hearing pursuant to Chase. This Court affirmed the denial of his motion to determine mental retardation. King, 960 So.2d at 428. King now reasserts this issue in his instant petition for post-conviction relief. ¶ 20. In previously considering this issue, this Court found that, although Chase had not been decided at the time of the 2003 resentencing trial, King's hearing complied with the procedures discussed in Chase. Further, this Court found: Here, both sides presented expert testimony and other evidence regarding King's mental retardation claim. After hearing all the evidence, which was substantial, the trial judge outlined the evidence that he had considered and gave his reasons for concluding that King was not mentally retarded. Chase merely affords a defendant a hearing if that defendant fulfills certain requirements. King fulfilled those requirements and had his hearing. For these reasons, we find that King was afforded a hearing on his mental retardation claim in satisfaction with the procedures outlined in Chase. Therefore, we find no error with regard to this issue. King, 960 So.2d at 428. ¶ 21. Accordingly, King is procedurally barred from reasserting this issue. See Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-21(3) (Rev.2007). Further, King fails to offer any evidence sufficient to overcome the procedural bar as required by Mississippi Code Section 99-39-21(6).