A Superior Court judge has ordered a Halifax County man off death row.
Judge John R. Jolly Jr. found that Clinton Cebert Smith is mentally retarded and therefore not capable of understanding his actions. A jury found a decade ago that Smith laced cherry Kool-Aid with a pesticide, leading to the death of his six-year-old daughter.
Smith is the 14th person removed from the state's death row for mental retardation, according to the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. A change in state law in 2001 prohibited the state from executing mentally disabled people.
The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed executing those with mental retardation.
Smith's lawyers say the ruling is another sign of his innocence in a case they say has been twisted by hidden evidence, misleading testimony and inadequate representation. They are now hoping appelate judges will award him a new trial. (N&O)
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