NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Monday, a death row inmate filed an appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court asking them to overturn a lower court's decision declining to decide if he's incompetent to be executed later this year.

In 1989, Byron Black was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the killings of Angela Clay and her two daughters Latoya and Lakesha. On February 24, 2020, the state Supreme Court granted the state's motion to set an execution date, but the date was stayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, the state filed orders to reset Black's execution date to August 5. However, in a Monday filing, Black's attorneys argued that because of dementia, intellectual disability and brain damage that he is incompetent to be executed.

"Black exhibits life-long deficits in intellectual functioning: every psychometrically valid IQ test ever administered to him places his intellectual functioning in the intellectually disabled range," the filing reads, in part. "Since his incarceration on death row, Mr. Black has developed dementia, which further impedes his daily functioning. His ability to manage his own affairs — even in prison — is extremely compromised."

The filing argued that the lower court "erred in concluding it was without jurisdiction" to assess Black's incompetence claim.

Black's lawyers added that he also suffers from congestive heart failure and stage four kidney disease, among other health conditions. Within the past two months, Black has reportedly undergone surgery to replace one of his broken hips and create a fistula for future dialysis.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/death-row-inmate-tn-supreme-court-consider-competence/