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Morrison v. State

Evidence of the death defendant's crimes was admissible and relevant to show his mental ability and adaptive skills at his mental retardation trial.

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In 1987, Ernest Ulysses Morrison pled guilty to the rape, armed robbery, and murder of a Richmond County woman. He was sentenced to death for the murder after a sentencing trial. His convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal.1 During habeas corpus litigation, Morrison alleged that he is mentally retarded. Georgia law forbids the execution of mentally retarded persons.2 The habeas court remanded his case for a trial to determine whether he is mentally retarded under the procedures outlined by this Court in Fleming v. Zant .3 The jury in Morrison’s 1999 mental retardation trial found him to be not mentally retarded, and he appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.

1. In his Fleming v. Zant trial, Morrison had the burden of proving he is mentally retarded by a preponderance of the evidence.4 At trial, the state presented evidence of a prior crime that Morrison had committed in South Carolina in 1986, as well as evidence of the 1987 crime in Georgia for which Morrison was sentenced to death.

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