Retarded strangler has deal to leave Pa. death row

[The Straight Story]

Retarded strangler has deal to leave Pa. death row


ERIE, Pa.—A man who strangled a 68-year-old Pennsylvania woman in 1994 will get off death row and spend life in prison instead.

Forty-year-old Jose Marrero was sentenced to death in October 1994. He murdered 68-year-old Elizabeth Smith, of Erie, after breaking into her apartment in January 1994.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated Marrero's death sentence in 2006 after state and federal rulings barred the execution of mentally retarded defendants. Marrero's IQ has been tested in the mid-50s, lower than the American Psychiatric Association's 70-point standard for retardation.

Marrero will be resentenced Thursday via teleconference in Erie County. District Attorney Brad Foulk says he agreed to the life sentence without parole because he can't prove Marrero isn't retarded.

http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_11371099

[Deep13]

1. Something to keep in mind about IQ tests...

...their scores assume that the tested person wants to do well. Prisoners facing capital sentences have a disincentive to score well on an IQ test.

[cali]

3. most people who are labeled retarded get that diagnosis well

before adulthood. They are generally in special ed and receive testing in childhood.

[Deep13]

5. right.

That would be strong corroborating evidence. Just an IQ test after the defendant has been accused of murder is not so persuasive. I'm not talking about this case as I do not know the facts.

[Occam Bandage]

2. When I have a bad day, I think,

"at least I am not the subject of a newspaper headline beginning with 'retarded strangler.'"

[Raskolnik]

7. That's very true. n/t

[madrchsod]

4. 50? why in the hell was he walking the streets?

incarcerating a mentally handicapped person in prison is cruel and unusual punishment.

yes, i know why he was walking the streets..

[AngryAmish]

8. Most people in prison inhabit the far left of the IQ bell curve

Most of them are really stupid.

[aikoaiko]

6. Mid 50s IQ is pretty far left on the bell curve.

Even as a death penalty (in some cases) supporter, I can live with this new sentence.