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Hamm v. Smith · ¶7

In 1998, Joseph Smith was convicted of first-degree murder. At his sentencing hearing, Smith introduced evidence of intellectual disability, including an IQ score of 72 and testimony from the test's administrator explaining that the test's standard error of measurement indicated Smith's IQ could be as low as 69 or as high as 75.Smith also introduced his school records, which showed that he was previously administered two IQ tests resulting in scores of 75 and 74 and that he was classified as “ `educable mentally retarded' ” in 7th grade. Smith v. State, 71 So. 3d 12, 19–20 (Ala. Crim. App. 2008). At the time of Smith's sentencing, this Court had held that it did not violate the Eighth Amendment to execute an intellectually disabled person so long as the sentencers considered mitigating evidence of the defendant's intellectual disability among other aggravating or mitigating evidence.…
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