SB159: SB159 Criminal Procedure; pretrial proceedings in capital offense cases where the death penalty is sought when the accused has intellectual disability; provide

Georgia law already lets juries find a defendant 'guilty but with intellectual disability' at trial, which blocks a death sentence. This bill adds a new pretrial step: in capital cases where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, a defendant can file notice before trial claiming intellectual disability. A judge can then hold a hearing, or must hold one if both sides agree, to decide the question before the case goes to a jury. The defendant has to prove intellectual disability by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). If the judge agrees, the state is barred from seeking death. If not, the defendant can still raise the issue later. Either side can appeal that ruling right away. The bill also creates, for capital trials starting after July 1, 2025, a two-stage jury process: the jury first decides guilt, then hears evidence on intellectual disability before deciding whether to impose a capital sentencing proceeding. It also updates speedy-trial deadlines and the Supreme Court's error-review questionnaires to reflect the new pretrial hearings.

• Creates a new pretrial procedure (O.C.G.A. § 17-7-128) letting capital defendants file notice claiming intellectual disability before trial.
• Lets a judge hold a hearing on intellectual disability before trial, required if both the defendant and prosecutor agree to it.
• Requires the judge to bar the state from seeking the death penalty if the defendant proves intellectual disability by a preponderance of the evidence at that hearing.
• Adds a two-stage jury process for capital trials starting after July 1, 2025: the jury first decides guilt, then separately considers intellectual disability evidence before any death sentencing proceeding.
• Excludes the time a pretrial intellectual disability claim is pending from the clock used to measure whether a speedy trial demand was met (O.C.G.A. § 17-7-171).
• Adds pretrial intellectual disability hearings to the list of matters reviewed for reversible error in death penalty case reports sent to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Defendants charged with capital crimes where prosecutors seek the death penalty, especially those who may have an intellectual disability; prosecutors and trial judges handling capital cases; and the Georgia Supreme Court, which reviews error reports in death penalty cases.

The bill would give capital defendants a chance to resolve an intellectual disability claim before trial rather than only through a jury verdict, potentially removing the death penalty from a case earlier. It could also change how quickly capital trials proceed and how appeals of that determination are handled.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 17-7-128 letting a capital defendant file pretrial notice claiming intellectual disability and creating a hearing process before the judge as fact-finder.
• Section 1 sets the defendant's burden of proof at preponderance of the evidence and lets either side seek immediate appellate review of the ruling.
• Section 2 revises Code Section 17-7-131 to add 'guilty but with intellectual disability' as a jury verdict option and creates a bifurcated trial process for capital cases filed after July 1, 2025.
• Section 2 specifies that a finding of guilty but with intellectual disability, whether by plea or verdict, bars the death penalty and results in a life sentence.
• Section 3 revises Code Section 17-7-171 so time spent on a pretrial intellectual disability claim does not count against speedy trial deadlines.
• Section 4 adds pretrial intellectual disability determinations to the topics covered by the Supreme Court's reversible-error questionnaires for death penalty cases under Code Section 17-10-35.1.

1. 2025-02-13Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-12Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)Primary sponsor
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)

• death penalty
• intellectual disability
• criminal procedure
• capital cases
• jury verdicts