Death Row Decisions

By Lisa Fine Goldstein

Washington

When Daryl Renard Atkins was in school, no one came to the conclusion that he was mentally retarded—or even in need of special education.

But years later, school records and teacher recollections helped establish the Virginia death row inmate's diagnosis in time to avert his execution. He had faced the death penalty after being convicted of capital murder in the 1996 killing of Eric Michael Nesbitt, 21, an airman stationed at Langley Air Force Base in southeastern Virginia.

Mr. Atkins' case, Atkins v. Virginia, eventually wound its way to the U.S. Supreme Court last term. The court ruled June 20 that the execution of mentally retarded people is unconstitutionally...