Ohio Death Row Inmate Spared Because of Mental Retardation

On August 9, 2005, the Court of Common Pleas Criminal Division in Hamilton County, Ohio, held that Darryl Gumm, a death row inmate, is mentally retarded. The decision came after Mr. Gumm filed a post-conviction petition in the state court following the Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002). Mr. Gumm's case appears to be the first Ohio death row inmate to be declared mentally retarded and therefore unexecutable. (State v. Gumm, No. B-9205608)