Murder Suspect in Alabama Cannot Be Executed Due to Intellectual Disability, Appeals Court Says

Joseph Clifton Smith was sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of Durk Van Dam in Alabama. However, an appeals court ruled that the murder suspect cannot be executed due to his intellectual disability.

On May 19, the U.S. Eleventh Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Alabama cannot constitutionally execute Joseph Clifton Smith, 53, for the murder of Durk Van Dam in 1997. This ruling apparently upholds a lower court’s decision due to the murder suspect’s intellectual disability.

However, an article in CNN states that the communications director for Alabama Attorney General, Amanda Priest, disagrees with the ruling. According to Priest, the murder suspect’s IQ scores are consistently above those who are intellectually disabled. Therefore, Attorney General Steve Marshall will pursue a review of the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court if the ruling will be overturned.

READ ALSO: Murder Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To 2013 Death Of 5-Year-Old Boy Found In Massachusetts

Murder Suspect Found Guilty

According to Hitson, the murder suspect reportedly confessed to the killing of Van Dam whose remains were discovered in Mobile County, Alabama. However, Smith allegedly offered two different versions of the incident. At first, Smith admitted that he watched Van Dam being murdered. On the other hand, Smith stated that he participated in the murder without the intention of killing the victim. Nonetheless, when the case went to trial, the jury found the murder suspect guilty.

READ ALSO: 12-Year-Old Boy Charged With Murder After Fatally Shooting A Texas Sonic Employee