No. 23A312

Thomas Dale Ferguson v. John Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al.

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2023-10-10
Status: Presumed Complete
Type: A
Experienced Counsel
Tags: atkins-v-virginia capital-punishment ineffective-assistance-of-counsel intellectual-disability jury-recommendation strickland-v-washington
Key Terms:
HabeasCorpus Punishment Securities
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (from Petition)

Whether a jury's eleven-to-one recommendation of a life sentence weighs heavily in favor of a finding of prejudice under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).

Whether a single raw IQ score (as opposed to a score range) above 70 — regardless of when the IQ test producing that score was administered — is an independently sufficient basis to deny a capital defendant's claim under Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002).

Whether a capital defendant must prove below-average intellectual and adaptive functioning before age eighteen, at the time of the offense, and at the time he challenges his execution.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a single raw IQ score above 70, regardless of when administered, is independently sufficient to deny a capital defendant's Atkins claim, and whether a capital defendant must demonstrate below-average intellectual and adaptive functioning before age eighteen, at the time of the offense, and at the time of execution

Docket Entries

2023-12-04
Application (23A312) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until January 4, 2024.
2023-11-24
Application (23A312) to extend further the time from December 6, 2023 to January 4, 2024, submitted to Justice Thomas.
2023-10-11
Application (23A312) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until December 6, 2023.
2023-10-05
Application (23A312) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from November 5, 2023 to January 4, 2024, submitted to Justice Thomas.

Attorneys

Thomas Ferguson
Linda T. CoberlyWinston & Strawn, LLP, Petitioner