The United States Supreme Court has turned down a request to review the case of a Texas man on death row, a move that clears the way for his execution even though experts on both sides of the case agreed he should not be put to death.
Victor Saldaño had sought the court’s intervention, arguing that he should be protected from execution under laws that prohibit putting individuals with intellectual disabilities to death. However, the justices declined to hear his appeal.
What makes the case particularly striking is that both the defense team and state-appointed experts reached the same conclusion — that Saldaño’s intellectual disability made him ineligible for execution under existing law. Despite that rare agreement between opposing sides, the Supreme Court chose not to step in.
With the high court’s refusal to act, Saldaño now faces the likelihood of being executed, even as legal advocates continue to raise concerns about whether his execution would be lawful given the findings of both sets of experts in the case.
