The State v. Ricky Lee Blackwell

Summary

The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Ricky Lee Blackwell’s murder convictions and death sentence, holding that the trial court’s pre‑trial Atkins determination, jury selection, Batson analysis, denial of privileged mental‑health records, exclusion of chaplains’ notes, and penalty‑phase instructions were all within the bounds of the law or harmless error. The Court also adopted a procedural rule for handling privileged mental‑health records and clarified the burden of proof for mental‑retardation claims in the penalty phase. Justice Pleicones dissented, arguing Blackwell is mentally retarded and that the trial court erred on several evidentiary issues, while Justice Few concurred except for the analysis of the mental‑health‑record issue.