GREENSBURG, Pa., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A lawyer for a man who could be executed if convicted of a Pennsylvania woman's torture slaying said his client may be mentally retarded.
Defense attorneys said a preliminary test showed Ricky Smyrnes, one of six roommates who has been charged with the February 2010 death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, has an IQ of 67, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
The U.S. Supreme Court has banned the execution of mentally retarded people, those with an IQ less than 70.
In a court filing Wednesday, defense attorney Michael DeRiso asked for more time to have a second test conducted to confirm the results of the preliminary test.
"Considering the results of the (first) test, more specific IQ testing is required and thus requested," DeRiso wrote.
Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway canceled a hearing that had been scheduled for Monday to determine Smyrnes' eligibility for the death penalty and rescheduled it for Nov. 22.
The body of Daugherty, who was mentally challenged, was found in a trash can under a truck in a Greensburg, Pa., middle school parking lot, the Tribune-Review said. Police said she had been held captive in an apartment the defendants shared for more than two days, tortured, then fatally stabbed in the heart.
Prosecutors say Smyrnes, 25, of Greensburg and two others were the ringleaders and are seeking the death penalty against all three.
One defendant, a teen at the time of the killing, has been sentenced to life in prison.
