Pennsylvania Court: Defendants must prove mental disability

By Mark Scolforo Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- The state Supreme Court said last week juries will have to rule in most instances when a defendant in a death penalty case wants to argue that he or she is mentally disabled and therefore ineligible for execution. The high court upheld the death penalty for Abraham Sanchez Jr., who was convicted of the May 2007 random shooting death of businessman Ray Diener on his doorstep in Elizabethtown. Sanchez's lawyer said the court missed an opportunity to prevent unnecessary capital trials by disposing of the mental disability evaluation before the trial starts. The justices' ruling means jurors will have to unanimously agree that the defendant qualifies to avoid execution under a 9-year-old U.S. Supreme Court case known as Atkins vs. Virginia. "We view the centrality of the jury in our constitutional system to weigh heavily in favor of reposing the determination with the jury," Chief Justice Ronald Castille wrote for the majority. In the new decision, the Pennsylvania court said jurors should rule on the issue before deciding if aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors, the process by which they determine if capital punishment is warranted. The justices had previously ruled on the standards by which a defendant would be considered "mentally retarded," the term the court uses, but this was the first time they laid out procedures for how to address the issue at trial. The high court put the burden of proof on defendants under a "preponderance of the evidence" standard. It said placing the burden on prosecutors would give defendants less incentive to cooperate with psychiatric evaluations or help produce friends and family members who might shed light on their mental states. Sanchez's lawyer Robert J. Kirwan II said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court "to prevent the unlawful execution" of his client. In a dissent, two justices said that the decision on "mental retardation" should be made before trial by a judge -- as Sanchez had argued -- but they agreed with the decision to uphold his Lancaster County death sentence. The majority opinion said judges will be allowed to make such rulings, if the parties agree. The decision about when a defendant must notify prosecutors that he or she intends to raise a mental disability claim was left up to the court's Criminal Procedural Rules Committee. The decision is vulnerable to an appeal in federal court, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania legislative director Andy Hoover said. "This will certainly lead to people with intellectual disabilities ending up on death row," Hoover said. "This decision is what a court does if it wants to nullify the Atkins decision in Pennsylvania." The court ruling described how Sanchez and three other men ended up at Diener's house in a random search for a home to burglarize or a car to break into: One of the men noticed Diener inside his home, so they stopped and rang the doorbell. After Diener went to the door, another man said their car had broken down and asked to use the phone. After Diener returned with a phone, Sanchez pointed a handgun at him, there was a struggle and Sanchez shot Diener three times before he and the other men fled. Diener's wife, who went outside after hearing his screams, returned inside, locked the doors and called police, the justices said. "Mrs. Diener went back outside, covered her husband's body, and sat with him until police arrived," Castille wrote. Sanchez told a witness he did the shooting "for fun," according to the opinion. Sanchez was convicted two years ago of first-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy. His defense team maintained the other three men were lying when they testified he was the one who pulled the trigger. He cried when, at age 20, he was sentenced to death by a jury in March 2009. Witnesses described how Sanchez was abused at home and picked on at school. His sister said when she asked him why he doesn't show love, "He said he doesn't know what love is." The defense argued Sanchez should get life in prison because of his age and background. The prosecution said the fact Diener was shot during a robbery called for the death penalty. A message left late Wednesday for Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman was not immediately returned. Published: Mon, Dec 26, 2011