Low-IQ inmate taken off death row

[struggle4progress]

N.C. man, who was convicted of poisoning his 6-year-old daughter, has an IQ of 70.
By Dan Kane
[e-mail]
Posted: Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008

Ten years ago, a Halifax County jury gave Clinton Cebert Smith a death sentence for fatally poisoning his 6-year-old daughter, Britteny. They found that he had gone to the home of his ex-girlfriend and laced cherry Kool-Aid with a pesticide.

But this month, state Superior Court Judge John Jolly Jr. ordered Smith off death row. Jolly found that Smith, 48, is mentally retarded and not capable of understanding his actions ...

Smith can't read or write. His IQ is 70 or below, and he has “significant limitations” in basic life skills. His attorneys say he could not dream up and execute the poisoning of his family.

Smith is the 14th person removed from the state's death row for mental retardation, according to the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/374913.html