Appeals court upholds convicted killer's MR claim

From The Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama:

ATLANTA - A federal appeals panel has upheld a ruling that a mentally retarded man convicted of a triple killing in Alabama 23 years ago cannot be put to death.

Glenn Holladay had escaped from the Cherokee County Jail when he killed his ex-wife, her boyfriend and a 16-year-old neighbor at an Etowah County trailer home in 1986.

U.S. District Judge Robert Propst ruled in 1986 that Holladay's IQ score of 64, averaged from 10 tests, met Alabama's standard for mental retardation of 70 or below.

The state appealed.

The decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 30 upholding Propst's ruling continues a stay of execution, should Alabama carry its appeal further to the U.S. Supreme Court.