Killer Of NFL Star Warrick Dunn’s Mother May Avoid Execution

The man who was convicted of murdering the Mother of former NFL star Warrick Dunn can not be executed because of his mental disability. That was the ruling handed down by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Kevan Brumfield. Brumfield was convicted of the killing of Baton Rouge police officer Betty Smothers in 1993.

Based upon the findings of the court because Brumfield's I.Q. was less than 75 he was protected from the death penalty. Tim Meche a legal analyst told the Louisiana Radio Network what that means.

What they said, essentially, was that Mr. Brumfield met the standards of proving that he was mentally retarded.  That disagreed with the Fifth Circuit opinion that he did not.

This ruling does not overturn Brumfield's conviction in the crime. It just raises the question as to whether or not he can be executed for his crime. That means the lawyers will return to the lower courts for more hearings.

The prosecutors will go back to court, roll up their sleeves, and have additional hearings to try to get him executed.  This could go on, quite frankly, another five to seven years.

When you consider that Brumfield has in and out of court since 1993, that's over twenty years, another five to seven years would make almost thirty years this case has been in the legal system.

Besides the case being high profile because of the former NFL star, there is a lot of interest in the outcome of this case from a legal perspective too.

Because, quite frankly, a lot of people in the criminal justice system in Louisiana have IQs lower than 75.  That's an extremely significant decision.

This will certainly be one to watch not only from the human cost but if you add the cost of housing a prisoner for life versus capital punishment there is a significant increase in cost to the state of Louisiana and its tax payers too.