Supreme Court refuses to block execution of Texas inmate despite disability claims

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of Victor Saldaño, a Texas death row inmate whom both defense and state experts say is intellectually disabled.

High court declines to halt execution of Texas prisoner with intellectual disability finding

Victor Saldaño, convicted of murder in Texas nearly three decades ago, is likely to face lethal injection after the nation's highest court on Monday turned away his bid for relief, NPR reported.

The justices split 6-3, with the three liberal members registering their opposition. No written opinion accompanied the order.

Saldaño's current legal team, working through the Texas Office of Capital Forensic Writs, has assembled evidence showing he has an IQ of 74. Medical professionals hired by both the defense and the state itself have concluded this places him below the threshold for capital punishment.

The case dates to 1996, when Saldaño was found guilty of killing someone during a robbery attempt. His first lawyers never brought up the question of diminished mental capacity. At that time, he was living in the United States without authorization.

To build their argument, Saldaño's advocates sent an investigator to Argentina, his childhood home. People who knew him there described a man who struggled with delusions and could not grasp elementary tasks like navigating traffic on foot.

Remarkably, the prosecuting attorneys eventually conceded that Saldaño should be spared execution. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overruled that concession, prompting the appeal to Washington.

Ben Wolff, who leads the state public defender office handling the matter, issued a statement calling the outcome disappointing. He noted that every specialist who examined Saldaño reached the same conclusion about his condition, and that even the same government that once sought to put him to death now acknowledges he falls within the protected category.

Wolff's office has vowed to keep pursuing avenues to save Saldaño's life.

Source: NPR National