Ex parte Clarence Curtis Jordan

Summary

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grants post-conviction habeas relief to Clarence Curtis Jordan on his claim that the 1983 punishment-phase jury instructions inadequately permitted consideration of mitigating mental and neurological health evidence under Penry v. Lynaugh. The court vacates his death sentence and remands for a new punishment proceeding. The court dismisses Jordan’s alternative Atkins intellectual-disability claim as waived for purposes of the proceeding.

Holdings

1. The pre-Penry special issues did not provide an adequate vehicle for Jordan's jury to meaningfully consider and give effect to his evidence of paranoid schizophrenia and possible organic brain damage. The absence of a separate Penry-compliant mitigation instruction was harmful, so Jordan's death sentence could not stand.
2. Jordan waived his Atkins claim for purposes of this proceeding because he requested that the claim be pursued only if the court denied relief on his Penry claim or required further factual development, and the court granted immediate relief on the Penry claim without requiring additional fact finding.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the 1983 punishment-phase jury instructions provided an adequate vehicle for the jury to consider and give effect to Jordan's mitigating evidence of mental and neurological impairment under Penry v. Lynaugh and the Eighth Amendment.
2. Whether Jordan's alternative Atkins v. Virginia intellectual-disability claim should be considered in the present habeas proceeding.

Disposition

remanded