Supreme Court to hear two Texas death penalty cases

WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) — The Supreme Court agreed to hear two Texas death penalty cases in the next term that raise questions about intellectual disability and delays in execution.

In the case of Moore v. Texas, the court is asked to determine whether the state of Texas uses obsolete standards in determining if a defendant’s intellectual disability makes him ineligible for the death penalty. The court will also determine whether a convict can remain incarcerated for more than 35 years after being sentenced to death without violating the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Bobby J. Moore has been on death row since 1980 for the shooting and killing of a Houston supermarket clerk, James McCarble, during a robbery.

The second case, Buck v. Stephens, will ask the court to decide if the right to a fair trial was denied Duane Buck, convicted in the 1995 murders of Debra Gardner, his former girlfriend, and her friend Kenneth Butler. Suggestions have been raised that it was tainted by testimony by a Texas Department of Corrections psychologist. In the trial’s sentencing phase, the psychologist said Buck, who is African-American, is more likely to be a threat to society because of his race and more likely to commit future crimes.

Texas law permits the death penalty only if a defendant can be shown by prosecutors to pose a danger to society. In the petition asking the Supreme Court to review the case, Buck’s new lawyers wrote the lawyer in his trial was ineffective and that his death sentence was influenced by racial bias.

Buck’s guilt is not an issue in the Supreme Court review.