英文閱讀 第十四週功課

1. 英文閱讀　第十四週功課 Daryl Renard Atkins

2. York County, Virginia • Scheduled Execution Date: Atkins was found mentally competent by a Virginia jury on Friday 5 August, 2005. A judge immediately scheduled his execution for December 2, 2005.Date of Offense: August 17, 1996DOB: 197818 at time of offenseRace: BlackIQ: 59In June, 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court found the execution of persons with mental retardation to be unconstitutional. Mr. Atkins still sits on death row in Virginia. It was for a jury to decide if he was indeed mentally retarded and thus not able to be executed. Recently, defence attorneys failed to convince a jury that Daryl Atkins was mentally retarded. The attorneys are planning to appeal.

3. Case Overview • On the night of August 16, 1996, Daryl Atkins and William Jones went to a convenience store to buy beer. Atkins was, at that time, in possession of a firearm that was concealed behind his belt. He asked several people around the store for money. Eric Nesbitt, a 21-year-old airman stationed at Langley Air Force Base, entered the store and had a short conversation with Atkins. Upon exiting the store, Atkins and Jones forced themselves into Nesbitt's truck. Atkins instructed Nesbitt to give him money from his wallet and then forced him to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine. Atkins and Jones took Nesbitt to a deserted field in Yorktown and shot him eight times. • Atkins has presented testimony that his overall IQ is 59, his verbal being 64 and his performance IQ 60. Based on these scores, the forensic psychologist for the defense, Dr. Evan Nelson, has stated that Atkins falls in the range of being "mildly mentally retarded." Persons with an IQ of 59 have the cognitive ability of a child between 9 and 12 years of age. Nelson testified that Atkins did understand the criminal nature of his conduct and that he meets the general criteria for the diagnosis of an antisocial personality disorder.

4. Doctors for both the prosecution and defense agreed that mental retardation is based upon a combination of IQ and adaptive behavior. As asserted by the American Association on Mental Retardation, an individual is considered to have mental retardation based on the following three criteria: intellectual functioning (IQ) level below 70-75; significant limitations exists in two or more adaptive skill areas; and the condition is present from childhood, which is defined as age 18 or less. (AAMR, 1992). Dr. Nelson testified that Atkins had a limited capacity for adaptive behavior. He pointed to his school records, which showed that he scored below the 20th percentile in almost every standardized test he took. He failed the 2nd and 10th grades. In high school, Atkins was placed in lower-level classes for slow learners and classes with intensive instruction for remedial deficits. His grade point average in high school was 1.26 out of a possible 4.0. Atkins did not graduate from high school. Dr. Nelson testified that Atkins' academic records "are crystal clear that he has been an academic failure since the very beginning." Dr. Samenow for the prosecution did not evaluate Atkins' academic records or anyone who had observed him prior to his incarceration. • On June 20, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court held inAtkins v. Virginiathat the execution of persons with mental retardation was in fact unconstitutionalClick herefor the full Opinion on Atkins v. Virginia. For summary and implications of the Atkins decisionclick here

5. 資料來源 • http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/retardationdatkins.cfm