High Court Denies Georgia Inmate’s Mental Disability Claim, Execution Proceeds

Attorneys for Holsey say he has always been intellectually disabled and under federal law that should have been enough to keep him from being executed.

But in Georgia, death row inmates must prove intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The basic idea was to try and convince the courts to apply this new decision Hall vs. Florida to Georgia’s beyond a reasonable doubt standard, because it certainly would have a difference in Mr. Holsey’s case,” Brian Kammer, one of Holsey’s lawyers, said.

Florida required that defendants show an IQ of 70 or below before challenging the state law.

The Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional.

According to the justice’s that threshold “creates an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disabilities will be executed.”

Court documents show Robert Holsey also had an IQ of 70.

But as to why the Georgia courts won’t adopt the same logic, Holsey’s long time attorney says he is baffled.

“Because our courts are not focused on delivering the justice that is promised in these decisions like Hall vs. Florida and that’s a terrible shame and a tragedy for Georgia,” said Kammer.

Sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of a Milledgeville Deputy Sheriff, Holsey is the 32nd inmate executed by lethal injection and Georgia’s 55th since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973.

According to Georgia Attorney General Sam Olen’s office, Holsey was lawfully executed at 10:51 p.m..