Court Opinion

ID: 9800753
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 08:34:55.921528+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:48:38.707922
License: Public Domain

BENHAM, Justice,
concurring.
I concur fully in the opinion as it is an accurate interpretation of the current state of the law. I write only to expound on the reference in Division 2 concerning persons with diminished capacities which notes that any change in the treatment of such persons in the criminal context is a matter of public policy for the legislature to determine. In Georgia, a person charged with a felony may be found guilty but mentally retarded and as such may be temporarily hospitalized (OCGA § 17-7-131), but is otherwise treated as any other criminal defendant. The Supreme Court of the United States has already determined that offenders with intellectual disabilities (or, in more dated vernacular, the “mentally retarded”) have less culpability than average criminals. Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U. S. 304, 316-320 (122 SCt 2242, 153 LE2d 335) (2002) (ultimately holding that mentally retarded offenders are not subject to the death penalty). See also Nevins-Saunders, Elizabeth, Not Guilty as Charged: The Myth of Mens Rea for Defendants with Mental Retardation, 45 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1419 (2012). It is therefore not a stretch to conclude that a more balanced approach to dealing with offenders with intellectual disabilities in the criminal justice system is warranted in today’s society. As Georgia moves forward with various criminal justice reforms, the General Assembly should consider expanding its treatment of offenders with intellectual disabilities and look for ways to reform substantive laws, evidentiary rules, affirmative defenses, sentencing, and punishment for offenders with intellectual disabilities in light of the fact that they may be less culpable for their actions than others without such disabilities.
I am authorized to state that Justice Hunstein joins in this concurrence.
*105Decided April 22, 2014.
Kathleen J. Anderson, for appellant.
J. Bradley Smith, District Attorney, Samuel E. Skelton, Deborah S. Wilbanks, Assistant District Attorneys, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, PatriciaB. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Katherine L. Iannuzzi, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.