DA: Intellectual disability should prevent inmate execution

By JONATHAN MATTISE
Associated Press

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.