Lawyers for a Georgia man whose execution was put on hold by a judge this week are arguing that he is ineligible for execution because he has cognitive impairments that cause him to function like a young child or someone with intellectual disability.
Lawyers for Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. said in a filing with the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday that he is a “cognitively disabled man” whose execution is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the execution of intellectually disabled people is unconstitutional, and Presnell's lawyers argue that includes people like him with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
