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LEAD-IN BY HOST: On March 16, 1986, two prominent civil rights leaders, Fred Finch and his wife Mildred, were murdered in their Dallas area home. The couple was stabbed numerous times... Fred Finch was personally assaulted and personal items were taken from the home. Shortly after the murders, a nearby resident, Kenneth Thomas, was seen wearing monogrammed clothing and a rolodex watch that belonged to Fred Finch. Police arrested Thomas and charged him with capital murders. Eric Thompson has more on the story: STORY: In 1986, Kenneth Wayne Thomas was convicted of capital murder and a Tarrant County jury took little more than an hour to sentence Thomas to be executed by lethal injection. Also in that 1986 trial, another and at the time, seemingly less important bit of information came to light. Kenneth Wayne Thomas has a documented IQ score of 72. It is generally accepted that IQ scores of 70 and below are classified as "mentally retarded." However the United States Supreme Court has broadened the category to include scores of up to 75. In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Atkins v. Virginia, that the execution of the mentally retarded was cruel and unusual It was the Atkins decision that led the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to grant Thomas a stay of execution, so that his claim of mental retardation could be evaluated. Son in law of the late Fred and Mildred Finch, and spokesman for the family, had this reaction to the court's decision: "I will tell you that my wife is by education and training, a social worker. And I am sure that in her adolescence, or youth, in her younger years she did not believe in the death penalty. But I believe now, her opinion has changed and she does believe there are some people who should receive the death penalty. Now that probably happens to everybody who has had something like this to happen to them. As for me, I have always known and believed that there are people who are not fit to live in a civilized society and should be put to death. I have always believed in the death penalty. I think the problem I have historically had, along with other African Americans, is that the procedure and the process of administering death penalty cases." Thomas' current legal counsel, Lydia Brandt, says her client has seen little justice in the Texas Court System and that his mental impairment is unquestionable. "Normally you would see a state habeas application that is well developed, somewhere between 100 to 200 pages. In this case, there was an eight-page application. Poor Mr. Thomas has never really had an opportunity to have all of his claims and his day in court really flushed out through the appellate process. I know people talk about, 'well, you know they get all of theses appeals.' Well, if you don't have council; who is competent and effective in terms of looking over what has come before; they really only have an appeal in name only." Brandt puts the significance of the Atkins decision into context of past rulings. "The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is just, you know, deny, deny, deny, deny! They have been moving this along like it is an assembly line." Presently opposing legal efforts on behalf of Kenneth Thomas, is Tarrant County District Attorney, Kim Schaeffer. In an interview earlier today, Schaeffer said she did not believe Thomas' claims of mental retardation, but was otherwise tightlipped, giving only this explanation. "Because it is a pending matter, the rules of ethics don't allow us to discuss the details of the case. Its pending litigation and we leave that for the courts to decide. Unfortunately I can't comment on it." The DA's office has up to 180 days to respond to the Criminal Court's of Appeals decision, however sources inside the office say a response may come as soon as 120 days. Eric S. Thompson, KPFT News, Houston. E-mail Eric Thompson at indymedia_eric_s_thompson@hotmail.com . This story was broadcast on June 18, 2003.