TN prosecutor says intellectual disability should prevent inmate execution

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville’s lead prosecutor says a death row inmate is intellectually disabled and should not face execution.

District Attorney Glenn Funk made the assessment in a filing this week that Byron Black should instead face life in prison.

The inmate’s attorneys are arguing the 65-year-old should be spared under a 2021 law that made Tennessee’s prohibition against executing people with intellectual disabilities retroactive.

Previously, Tennessee had no mechanism for an inmate to reopen a case to press an intellectual disability claim.

Black is currently scheduled to be executed on Aug. 18.

A judge would need to approve any agreement to remove Black’s death sentence.

The district attorney’s filing says there is a different standard in place now.

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