The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has stayed the execution of Clifton Williams to review claims of intellectual disability. Williams was scheduled to be executed on June 21, 2018 for the 2005 murder of Cecilia Schneider in Smith County. This is the first stay granted by the CCA in 2018.
The CCA’s order stated:
“We remand this application to the convicting court for a live hearing to further develop evidence and make a new recommendation to this Court on the issue of intellectual disability.”
Attorneys for Williams have sought relief based on his intellectual disability in the past, but previous appeals have been denied. Last year, in Moore v. Texas the United States Supreme Court ruled that Texas’ standard for determining intellectual disabilities was not in compliance with current medical standards. According to the Texas Tribune, “Since [Moore v. Texas], two men on Texas’ death row have had their sentences reduced to life in prison based on claims of intellectual disability.”
Read coverage from the Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle.