Head v. Stripling (Georgia)

Our client is a mentally retarded man who was accused of killing two co-workers during a botched robbery attempt.  He was one of the first defendants in the country tried under a statute prohibiting execution of the mentally retarded, but was found not to be mentally retarded at trial and thus was sentenced to death.  In habeas proceedings before a Georgia trial court and then the Supreme Court of Georgia we overturned his death sentence based on the prosecutor’s failure to disclose records supporting our client’s claim of mental retardation at the original trial.  Following years of motion practice on remand, we obtained a ruling that excluded the State’s primary evidence in opposition to the mental-retardation claim.  We then reached a plea agreement that avoided the death penalty for our client.

Briefs

Appellee Brief