Aug 27, 2008 9:26 pm US/Pacific
Court Overturns Death Penalty For Retarded Man
SANTA ROSA (AP) ―
A man convicted in 1981 of attacking three women has had his death sentence set aside by a Sonoma County court after he was recently found to be mentally retarded.
Sonoma County prosecutors and defense attorneys for 50-year-old Calvin Coleman Jr. agreed in court Wednesday that he should be taken off Death Row.
Coleman was convicted of stabbing two women, raping one and fatally shooting another at a Healdsburg ranch in May 1980.
Attorneys representing Coleman petitioned for a review of his sentence after a 2002 Supreme Court decision struck down capital punishment for the mentally retarded.
Mental health experts determined after a months-long evaluation that Coleman met California's definition of retardation, which was broadened in 2004.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)