State v. Strode

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that the State may pursue an interlocutory appeal from a trial court's determination that a capital defendant is ineligible for the death penalty due to mental retardation. Interpreting Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-203(a), the court held that the defendant's mental retardation must have manifested no later than age eighteen. Because the evidence preponderated against the finding that Danny Strode met that requirement, the court affirmed the Court of Criminal Appeals and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. The State may pursue an interlocutory appeal under Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 9 when a trial court determines that a defendant is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.
2. Under section 39-13-203(a), both significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, evidenced by an IQ of 70 or below, and deficits in adaptive behavior must have manifested by age eighteen.
3. The evidence preponderated against the trial court's finding that Strode manifested significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, as evidenced by an IQ of 70 or below, before age eighteen.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State may pursue an interlocutory appeal under Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 9 from a trial court's determination that a capital defendant is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.
2. Whether Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-203(a) requires both significantly subaverage intellectual functioning and deficits in adaptive behavior to have manifested by age eighteen.
3. Whether the evidence preponderated against the trial court's finding that Strode had manifested an IQ of 70 or below before age eighteen.

Disposition

affirmed