Warren Hill is scheduled for execution Monday, July 15.
The death row inmate was supposed to face execution back in February 2012 but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initally intervened because he was classified intellectually disabled or mentally retarded by after seven evaluations. However, in April the court lifted the appeal which put him back on the schedule for next weeks execution.
In Georgia, capital defendants are required to prove “mental retardation” beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the only state in the country that sets such a high burden of proof for such claims. The attorney for Warren Hill claim that Hill’s execution will violate the court’s 2002 ruling of the Atkins v. Virginia case, which prohibits the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Hill was convicted of the 1990 killing of fellow inmate, Joseph Handspike, who he killed with a “nail-studded” board as he slept. He was in already in prison after being found guilty for killing his girlfriend, Myra Wright.
Every court to which Mr. Hill’s lawyer has petitioned in an effort to present the new evidence from the doctors who evaluated him has denied him an opportunity to prove the merits of his claim. It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide if Hill will be executed on Monday.
