Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

Present law prohibits the imposition of a sentence of death if it is found that the defendant, at the time of committing first degree murder, had an intellectual disability. This bill creates a method for a defendant who was sentenced to death to petition the trial court for a determination of whether the defendant is intellectually disabled. <br /> <br /> Under this bill, a defendant may petition the trial court for a determination of whether the defendant is intellectually disabled when the defendant has been sentenced to death prior to the effective date of this bill and the conviction is final on direct review. The bill requires that the defendant’s motion set forth a colorable claim of ineligibility of the death penalty due to intellectual disability. Either party may appeal the trial court decision.<br /> <br /> Under present law, for purposes of the prohibition of a death sentence for a person with an intellectual disability, "intellectual disability" is defined as significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning as evidenced by a functional intelligence quotient (I.Q.) of 70 or below, deficits in adaptive behavior, and the disability must have manifested during the developmental period or by 18 years of age. This bill removes the requirement of an I.Q. of 70 or below and recharacterizes intellectual disability to mean significant limitations in both functioning and adaptive behavior, including social and practical skills, that originates prior to the person’s 18th birthday. This bill eliminates the reference to the intellectual disability originating during a developmental period. <br />