Man on Death Row Appeals Judge’s Decision Not to Review Case Under New Law - Articles

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Man on Death Row Appeals Judge’s Decision Not to Review Case Under New Law

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 6, 2022

Tennessee lawmakers last year created a rare chance for defendants on death row to have their sentences reviewed under new intellectual disability standards. Attorneys for Byron Black — who was sentenced to death for three 1998 murders — now have filed an appeal with the state Court of Criminal Appeals after Senior Judge Walter Kurtz declined to review it earlier this year, the Tennessean reports. Kurtz ruled that because Black previously challenged his sentence under the old law and lost, he is not eligible to bring a challenge under the new law. Black’s attorneys have long argued Black’s intellectual disabilities should bar him from execution. Nashville’s district attorney also supported the motion considered by Kurtz, which would have allowed Black's sentence to be reset to life in prison without parole.