Conner v. Hall

Convicted and sentenced to death for a 1982 beating death, petitioner exhausted state appeals and twice sought habeas corpus in state courts. A petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel was rejected; the second, alleging that petitioner was mentally retarded, was found to be barred for not having been raised at trial. Although petitioner was hospitalized before trial and found to show complete psychomotor retardation and be unable to answer any questions, he did not receive an independent psychiatric evaluation. The federal district court denied a habeas petition in 2009. The Eleventh Circuit vacated and remanded. Georgia's procedural default rule, O.C.G. 9-14-51, is inadequate to bar federal review of a mental retardation claim because it has not been consistently and regularly followed. The court noted that petitioner's trial occurred prior to Georgia’s 1988 ban on executing mentally retarded persons. The district court must determine whether discovery, including a mental evaluation, and a hearing are appropriate.