The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an Alabama death penalty case, preventing the execution of Joseph Clinton Smith, 55. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo
May 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday dismissed an appeal from Alabama in a death row case by declining to look at how IQ scores affect capital cases.
The decision saves the life of inmate Joseph Clinton Smith, 55, whose intellectual deficiencies make him ineligible for execution. Smith has taken five IQ tests, and four of them showed his IQ in the 70s. Smith was convicted of beating Durk Van Dam to death with a hammer during a robbery in 1997.
Generally, an IQ of below 70 indicates intellectual disability and makes a person ineligible for the death penalty. U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade vacated Smith's death sentence in 2021, calling it a "close case." The judge said that the error range of his lowest test score at 72 could mean his IQ is below 70. A federal appeals court agreed in 2023.
Alabama had argued that because all five of his scores were above 70, Smith's attorneys can't prove he's disabled.
