Judge: Man on death row for killing 2 cops can't be executed

[WhiteTara]

http://news.yahoo.com/judge-man-death-row-killing-2-cops-cant-180518874.html

NEW YORK (AP) — A man on death row for killing two undercover New York City police officers cannot be executed because he meets the legal standard to be considered intellectually disabled, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

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In his 76-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis vacated Ronell Wilson's death sentence and imposed a new punishment of life in prison.

"In reaching this decision, the court in no way minimizes or excuses the cruelty and depravity of Wilson's action," Garaufis wrote. "Having presided over this tragic case for more than a decade, the court quite frankly finds it impossible to muster any sense of sympathy for this defendant."

But the judge said Wilson, who had a history of severe behavioral problems dating back to childhood, had "significant deficits in adaptive functioning" that made him ineligible for the death penalty under new standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court.