Court Opinion

ID: 9648095
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:02:09.299571+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:56.187234
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON PETITION TO REHEAR

DROWOTA, Justice.
A petition for rehearing has been filed on behalf of Appellant, Sylvester Smith. After consideration of the same, a majority of the Court is of the opinion that the petition should be denied. Justice Reid, in his dissent to this order denying the petition to rehear, would adopt the American Association of Mental Retardation’s (AAMR) definition of “deficits in adaptive behavior” and concludes that “according to that definition, the Defendant is not death eligible.” Even under the AAMR definition, however, the Defendant has failed to establish that he suffered deficits in adaptive behavior.
The petition also argues that the State’s proof of the Defendant’s ability to adapt to prison did not show his ability to adapt to society; however, this argument incorrectly places the burden on the State to establish that the Defendant was not mentally retarded and ignores the fact that under the statute, See T.C.A. § 39-13-203(c), (e), the burden is on the Defendant to demonstrate deficits in adaptive behavior by a preponderance of the evidence, Something the petitioner in this case failed to do.
A majority of this Court is of the opinion that the Defendant did not carry the burden of showing that he was mentally retarded.
For the above reasons, the petition to rehear is denied at the cost of Appellant.
O’BRIEN, C.J., and ANDERSON, J., concur.
REID, J., dissents.