Georgia House Advances Bill to Ease Death Penalty Criteria for Intellectually Disabled

The Georgia House has unanimously passed a bill that would make it easier for individuals facing the death penalty to be considered intellectually disabled, sparing them from execution. This decision marks a significant shift for a state known to have one of the strictest thresholds for proving intellectual disability in death penalty cases.

State Rep. Bill Werkheiser, a Republican, spearheaded the legislation. His efforts were partly inspired by the 2023 execution of Willie James Pye, who had been convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough. Despite arguments from his lawyers that Pye was intellectually disabled and brain-damaged, Georgia’s high burden of proof sealed his fate.

Werkheiser’s previous attempts to introduce similar legislation never made it past committee votes, but this new bill has gained broad legislative support. It now heads to the Senate for review.

Georgia was the first state to ban the execution of intellectually disabled individuals in 1988, a move that predated a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling deeming such executions unconstitutional. However, Georgia’s legal standard remains the toughest in the nation, requiring defendants to prove intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt.

The newly advanced bill introduces a pretrial process where defendants can present evidence of intellectual disability, with mandatory hearings if prosecutors agree. Should a defendant be convicted at trial, the jury would then consider evidence of intellectual disability in a separate proceeding. Those found intellectually disabled would instead face life imprisonment.

"I believe it is incumbent upon the state to protect those who cannot protect themselves," Werkheiser said during discussions.

The bill addresses past controversies, such as the 2015 execution of Warren Lee Hill, who was sentenced to death despite a judge’s acknowledgment that a lower standard of proof might have classified him as intellectually disabled. Similarly, in 2021, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Rodney Young, ruling he failed to meet the 'beyond a reasonable doubt' threshold. Yet, even then-Presiding Justice David Nahmias expressed support for legislative reforms to ease this stringent standard.

Critics of the bill, including T. Wright Barksdale III, district attorney for Georgia’s Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, argue the proposed changes would complicate the legal process and effectively eliminate the death penalty in practice. "As this law is constructed, it would cripple us to a point where we’d never have a real fair shot at obtaining a death penalty for anyone," Barksdale stated, adding that lawmakers should abolish capital punishment outright if that’s their intent.

Proponents counter that the current process is already complex and that death penalty cases inherently involve extensive motions and hearings. They argue that defendants should be able to present evidence of intellectual disability without bias from jurors who have already heard details of the crime. Mazie Lynn Guertin, executive director of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, stated, "Changing only the standard of proof is insufficient for ensuring that Georgia does not continue to execute people with valid claims of intellectual disability."

Democrat Rep. Esther Panitch, a criminal defense attorney, expressed her support by emphasizing the importance of fairness in capital punishment cases. "If we’re going to mete out the ultimate punishment, it should only be for the worst of the worst, and those we have spent the time to make sure understand their culpability," Panitch said.

The debate over this bill highlights the ongoing tension between justice and mercy in Georgia’s legal system. With bipartisan backing in the House, attention now shifts to the Senate, where the fate of this proposed reform will ultimately be decided.