
    Riley Dobi NOEL v. Larry NORRIS, Director of Arkansas Department of Correction
    CR03-762
    120 S.W.3d 599
    Supreme Court of Arkansas
    Opinion delivered July 8, 2003 [Dissenting opinion only]
    
   Ray Thornton, Justice,

dissenting. I would grant the petition for stay of execution to allow the determination of whether petitioner, Riley Noel, may legally be executed in light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Atkins v. Virginia, 356 U.S. 304 (2002), and the application of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-618(b) (Repl. 1997), which states: “No defendant with mental retardation at the time of committing capital murder shall be sentenced to death.”

Arnold, C.J., and Imber, J., join.  