IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
OF TEXAS
IN CAUSE NO. 693143-B FROM THE
351ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF HARRIS COUNTY
O P I N I O N
This is a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 11.071, Section 5. Applicant asserts that he is mentally retarded and may not be executed. We remanded this claim to the trial court for resolution.
Applicant was convicted of capital murder on October 14, 1996, and the jury answered the special issues submitted pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 11.071, in favor of the State. In accordance with the jury's answers, the trial court sentenced Applicant to death. We affirmed the conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion, Plata v. State, No. 72,639 (Tex. Crim. App. July 8, 1998), and Applicant's initial Article 11.071 application for writ of habeas corpus was denied in an unpublished order, Ex parte Plata, No. WR-46,749-01 (Tex. Crim. App. Oct. 4, 2000).
Applicant filed a subsequent habeas writ application on July 18, 2003, asserting that he is mentally retarded and cannot be executed after the United States Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) (holding that the death penalty is excessive punishment for a mentally retarded criminal). We determined that this claim met the requirements for consideration under Article 11.071, Section 5, and remanded the matter to the trial court for resolution. Ex parte Plata, No.46,749-02 (Tex. Crim. App. Sep. 29, 2004).
The trial court held a hearing at which there was testimony that Applicant is mentally retarded and testimony that he is not mentally retarded. The trial court finds that Applicant is mentally retarded and recommends that we grant relief. It has returned the case to this Court with its findings of fact and conclusions of law. We have reviewed the record of the proceedings on remand. The trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law are supported by the record, and we adopt them as our own. We conclude that Applicant is mentally retarded and may not be executed. The relief Applicant seeks is granted.
Applicant's sentence is reformed from death to life imprisonment.
IT IS SO ORDERED THIS THE 16TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2008.
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