Warren Lee Hill, an intellectually disabled inmate with an I.Q. of 70, was scheduled for execution in Georgia on February 19 at 7 p.m.
In a twist of fate that carried out a grievous miscarriage of justice upon the person of one Troy Davis, who was executed by the state of Georgia even though no murder weapon was found, it appears that Mr. Hill may not meet that same fate. So far.
In the Davis case, there was also no DNA evidence to convict him with, and no sincerely credible witnesses were found to testify against him after seven of the "hearsay" witnesses said they were coerced by police into testifying against him. One of the "witnesses" in the Davis case is said to have been the one last seen with a gun in his hand before Officer Mark MacPhail was fatally wounded in Savannah, Georgia and Davis was totally convicted and killed on hearsay evidence only.
Heavily weighted on Mr. Hill's side is the fact that three of the psychological evaluations given at the time have been retracted by the experts who gave the testimony. The three experts for the state, who said in 2000 that Mr. Hill did not meet the criteria for intellectual disability, have all reversed their views.
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Dr. Thomas Sachy says in a signed and sworn affidavit that he was a young, inexperienced psychiatrist at the critical hearing about Mr. Hill’s mental capacity. He states that he was only five years out of medical school and had “no prior experience evaluating patients for mental retardation.” He also said that the previous judgement was an error and that Mr. Hill has significantly subaverage intellectual functioning with an IQ of approximately 70, which meets the criteria for mild mental retardation.
Dr. Donald Harris, another expert, relied heavily on Dr. Sachy’s assessment that year and also decided that his conclusions were incorrect.
“The science pertaining to determinations of both ‘malingering’ and to mental retardation has advanced significantly since 2000” and that “the balance of the evidence is persuasive that Mr. Hill meets the criteria for mild retardation,” said Dr. Harris.
Dr. James Carter, the senior doctor at the 2000 evaluation, states “The timetable for our evaluation of Mr. Hill was extremely and unusually rushed. ... the severity of his adaptive skill deficits was the point in dispute.” Dr. Carter emphasizes: “It was a close case then.”
Since then he has “more carefully reviewed the record in this case, including materials to which I did not have access in 2000, such as the testimony of other witnesses at the ... evidentiary hearing and other materials described by Drs. Sachy and Harris.” Carter states “that the totality of the evidence establishes that Mr. Hill meets the criteria for mild mental retardation.”
These reversals of opinion are “the equivalent of an exoneration,” explained Mr. Hill’s lawyers. All have concurred that Mr. Hill is intellectually disabled beyond a reasonable doubt.
The lawyers requested that the Georgia clemency board review his case and present the new evidence to a state trial judge in Georgia in a plea for a stay of execution. The state trial judge dismissed the plea because "the new evidence did not establish that there was a miscarriage of justice."
That is deadly wrong; and Hill's lawyers have appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.
It is said that in any other state, Mr. Hill would not be facing execution (though there are some who would take exception to that assessment).
If history means anything at all, it has shown that the state of Georgia is capable of committing another unjust and non-redeemable state-sanctioned murder that can't be reversed once the wrong is done.