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House Journal: Page 482: Wednesday, February 22, 1995

27     Sec. 5.  Section 815.10, Code 1995, is amended by
28   adding the following new subsection:
29     NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  The court shall appoint for
30   each indigent person who is charged with murder in the
31   first degree and in which a notice of intent to seek
32   the death penalty has been filed two attorneys to
33   represent the person in the murder proceedings and in
34   all state legal proceedings which take place from the
35   time the person is arraigned until the time of
36   sentencing on the charge.  Only private attorneys and
37   public defenders who are qualified for representation
38   in cases in which the death penalty may be imposed are
39   eligible for appointment or assignment to a case in
40   which the death penalty may be imposed.
41     Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  901.11  MURDER PROCEEDINGS
42   -- REQUEST FOR DEATH PENALTY -- PENALTY PROCEEDINGS.
43     1.  If a notice of intent to seek the death penalty
44   has been filed, objections to the imposition of the
45   death penalty based upon allegations that a defendant
46   was mentally retarded at the time of the commission of
47   the offense shall be raised within the time provided
48   for the filing of pretrial motions under rule of
49   criminal procedure 10, Iowa court rules, third
50   edition.  The court may, for good cause shown, allow
Page   4
 1   late filing of the motion.  Hearing on the motion
 2   shall be held prior to trial and the burden of proof
 3   shall be on the defendant to prove mental retardation
 4   by a preponderance of the evidence.  However, a
 5   rebuttable presumption of mental retardation arises if
 6   a defendant has an intelligence quotient of seventy or
 7   below.  A finding of the court that the evidence
 8   presented by the defendant at the hearing does not
 9   preclude the imposition of the death penalty under
10   this section and section 902.12 shall not preclude the
11   introduction of evidence of mental retardation during
12   the penalty proceeding.  If the court finds that
13   evidence of mental retardation does not preclude
14   imposition of the death penalty, evidence of mental
15   retardation may be reviewed by the jury in the penalty
16   proceeding and the jury shall not be informed of the
17   finding in the initial proceeding at any time during
18   the penalty proceeding.
19     2.  If at the trial of a charge of murder in the
20   first degree, the state intends to request that the
21   death penalty be imposed under section 902.1,
22   subsection 2, the prosecutor shall file a notice of
23   intent to seek the death penalty, listing the factors
24   enumerated under section 902.12 that the state intends
25   to establish in support of imposition of the death
26   penalty, at the time of and as part of the information
27   or indictment filed in the case.

Iowa General Assembly

Index: House Journal (76th General Assembly: Session 1)

© 1995 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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