Supreme Court Rules For Death Row Inmate Over Intellectual Disability Claim

Supreme Court Rules For Death Row Inmate Over Intellectual Disability Claim
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: People gather in front of the Supreme Court Building June 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. This month the high court is expected to hand down its ruling on gay marriage and Obamacare subsidies. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: People gather in front of the Supreme Court Building June 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. This month the high court is expected to hand down its ruling on gay marriage and Obamacare subsidies. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a federal judge was correct to hold a hearing on whether a convicted cop killer on Louisiana's death row is intellectually disabled and therefore potentially ineligible for the death penalty.

The court, in a 5-4 decision, threw out an appeals court ruling that said Kevan Brumfield was not eligible for the special hearing in which the lower court judge found he was intellectually disabled. Brumfield will remain on death row for now, as the appeals court has yet to decide if the judge was correct to find that Brumfield was ineligible for the death penalty.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)

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