High court rejects claim of retardation by murderer

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      High court rejects claim of retardation by murderer 
      Michael Kiefer 
      The Arizona Republic 
      Jun. 7, 2006 12:00 AM 
      The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a convicted murderer's claim 
      of mental retardation to avoid the death penalty, but sent the case back 
      to Maricopa County Superior Court to have a jury decide whether he should 
      be put to death.

      Shawn Ryan Grell, 30, admitted setting his toddler daughter on fire in 
      1999, and in 2001, under Arizona law at the time, was sentenced to death 
      by a Superior Court judge.

      But before Grell had gone through the automatic appeals afforded 
      death-penalty cases, the U.S. Supreme Court made two important decisions 
      regarding the death penalty: that mentally retarded people could not be 
      executed, and that juries, not judges, must decide whether there are 
      aggravating factors that merit the death penalty. 

      Tuesday's decision affirmed a lower court assertion that Grell did not 
      prove he was mentally retarded, but stated that he was still entitled to a 
      jury trial to decide on the death penalty. His murder conviction stands.

      According to court records, on Dec. 2, 1999, Grell picked up his 
      2-year-old daughter, Kristen, at her daycare and drove her around until 
      she fell asleep in the car. Then he laid her by the side of a desert road 
      in Mesa, poured gasoline over her and lit it. 

      Grell held a news conference where he confessed to the murder. He chose 
      not to have a jury trial, and in 2000, he was found guilty of first-degree 
      murder. And though the issue of mental retardation was raised as a 
      mitigating factor in his sentencing, the judge ruled that he had not 
      proven it. 

      The Supreme Court justices ruled 4 to 1 to affirm the lower court decision 
      that Grell was not proven to be mentally ill. 
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