USA - Pennsylvania. Jose A. Marrero, 40, has been resenteced to life in jail due to his mental retardation.

Jose A. Marrero, 40, has been resenteced to life in jail due to his mental retardation. In exchange, he gave up all pending and future appeals. Erie County Judge Shad Connelly, who had presided over Marrero's trial in 1994, set aside Marrero's death sentence. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had set aside Marrero's death sentence in November 2006, and  the prosecution gave up the fight to keep Marrero on death row after a panel of experts hired by the prosecution concluded Marrero suffers from mental retardation under the law because his IQ is lower than 70. An Erie County jury sentenced Marrero to death in October 1994 after the panel found he strangled 68-year-old Elizabeth E. Smith in January 1994. (source: GoErie.com, Erie Times-News)