![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The court ultimately determined that Smith “has significant deficits in social/interpersonal skills, self-direction, independent home living, and functional academics,” the ruling says. Daniel Reschly, a certified school psychologist, the ruling says. One of the witnesses in Smith’s evidentiary hearing held by the district court to determine whether he has an intellectual disability was Dr. Smith then failed the seventh and eighth grades before dropping out of school entirely, the ruling says, and he then spent “much of the next fifteen years in prison” for burglary and receiving stolen property. Supreme Court sides with Alabama inmate who seeks to die by nitrogen gas His behavior became so troublesome that his school placed him in an ‘emotionally conflicted classroom,’” the ruling states. “After that placement, Smith developed an unpredictable temper and often fought with classmates. When he was in fourth grade, Smith was tested again and placed in a learning-disability class – at the same time as his parents were going through a divorce, the court said. Smith had struggled in school since as early as the first grade, the order says, which led to his teacher labeling him as an “underachiever” before he underwent an “intellectual evaluation,” which gave him an IQ score of 75, the court said. During his sentencing proceedings, Smith’s mother and sister testified that his father was “an abusive alcoholic,” according to the ruling. The case went to trial and the jury found Smith guilty, the order states. Smith “offered two conflicting versions of the crime,” the ruling says – first admitting he watched Van Dam’s murder and then saying he participated but didn’t intend to kill the man. Smith confessed to murdering Durk Van Dam, whose body was found “in an isolated area near his pick-up truck” in Mobile County in southwest Alabama, according to the court’s Friday ruling. The judge referenced the district court’s finding that Smith’s “intellectual and adaptive functioning issues clearly arose before he was 18 years of age,” according to the 2021 appeals court ruling, which agreed with the lower court.Ĭourt cites struggles in childhood, at school In 2021, a US District Court judge ruled that due to his intellectual disability, Smith could not “constitutionally be executed,” and vacated his death sentence. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File) Butch Dill/AP/FileĪlabama to resume executions after multiple failed injections prompted system review, governor says 24, 2023, that an internal review of the state's execution procedures is complete and that the state will resume lethal injections. Kay Ivey speaks after she is sworn in as the 54th Governor of Alabama during a ceremony on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, Monday, Jan. ![]()
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