Governor commutes death sentence
Texas Governor Rick Perry has commuted the death sentence of a Houston killer with an IQ estimated at 63 -- a move required under a 2002 Supreme Court decision barring the execution of retarded inmates.
It was the first time Perry, a Republican who has presided over 81 executions since taking office in 2000, has commuted a death sentence.
Robert Smith, 36, will serve a life sentence for the 1990 murder of James Michael Wilcox. Wilcox, a transient living out of his truck, was shot to death after crossing paths with Smith and an accomplice as they fled a clothing-store robbery.
In January, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal grudgingly recommended the inmate's sentence be commuted after his own expert diagnosed Smith as retarded. A judge concurred last month, and the governor has now acted.
"I recommended it because our expert looked at him and agreed he was retarded," Rosenthal said tonight, "but here is a guy who had done a lot of things you'd think someone who was retarded could not handle. His lawyers at trial never brought it up because he never had any trouble" assisting them.
Smith's attorneys said he has an IQ of 63, seven points below the retardation threshold.
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