USA - Mississippi. Judge Michael P. Mills orders Lawrence Branch's death sentence vacated

Chief Judge Michael P. Mills orders Lawrence Branch's death sentence vacated. Branch, 32, black, was sentenced to death in 2002 in the January 21, 2001 beating and robbery of Dorothy Broome Jorden, 57. Branch's appeal to the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi claimed he was mentally retarded, and thus, exempt from the death penalty. Judge Mills' order, which becomes final in 60 days, says Branch's appeal met each test of the clinical criteria "for a diagnosis of mental retardation by a preponderance of the evidence," contrary to earlier denials by the Mississippi Supreme Court. After the case becomes final, Mills wrote, the state will impose a lesser sentence.