a killer who convinces at least one juror that he is mentally retarded cannot be sentenced to death...

a killer who convinces at least one juror that he is mentally retarded cannot be sentenced to death, the state Supreme Court ruled this morning. The 4-2 decision is a victory for accused child killer Porfirio Jimenez. Jimenez, 42, is accused of luring 10-year-old Walter Valenzuela from a playground to a secluded spot and trying to have sex with him on May 20, 2001. Authorities say the day laborer from Honduras beat the 3rd grader with a gardening tool to keep him from telling anyone. His body was found 2 days later, and Jimenez was arrested June 7, 2001, after a DNA sample linked him to the murder. After the State gave notice of its intent to seek the death penalty, Jimenez filed a pretrial motion that asserted that his mental retardation precluded the death penalty. In Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of a mentally retarded defendant. However, the Atkins court left it to the states to adopt procedures for determining whether a defendant is mentally retarded. In a October 2006 ruling, the new Jersey Supreme Court put the burden of proving retardation on the defendant, but until today, the court had not addressed what happens if a jury is divided on the issue.