LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that an Arkansas death row inmate is not “intellectually disabled” enough to avoid the death penalty.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday (https://bit.ly/1TtSIl8 ) that the judge ruled 45-year-old Alvin Bernal Jackson is not mentally disabled under Arkansas law.
Judge Susan Webber Wright sided with testimony from a psychologist who said Jackson appeared “above the cut of mental retardation,” allowing for his execution under state law.
Jackson’s attorney has filed a notice of appeal with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has twice overturned previous rulings by Wright against Jackson in the case.
Jackson was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1995 stabbing death of a prison guard while Jackson was serving life without parole for killing a Little Rock businessman in 1989.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, https://www.arkansasonline.com
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