Virginia Murderer Claims Mental Disability: In an effort to avoid execution, double murderer Darrick Walker argues that he cannot be executed because he is mentally disabled.  Associated Press writer Larry O'Dell reports that, in argument before the Fourth Circuit, defense attorney Jody Kris claimed that Walker met the "national consensus" for the definition of being mentally disabled.   The U.S. Supreme Court held in Atkins v. Virginia that it is unconstitutional to execute a murderer with an IQ less than 70, established by the age of 18, who lacks basic adaptive skills.  Walker was convicted of shooting Stanley Rogers Beale to death in 1996.  Then in June of 1997, Walker was convicted of shooting Clarence Elwood Threat to death.  Beale was killed after Walker broke into his apartment and shot him four times in front of victim's 14-year-old daughter.  Threat was shot seven times after Walker broke into Threat's girlfriend's apartment.  The lower court had ruled that Walker was not mentally disabled and said that Walker's ability to commit crimes that require him to interact effectively with other people is evidence of his intelligence.  But Kris alleges that the lower court ignored Walker's low IQ as well as evidence of limitations in adaptive behavior. This case sounds a lot like Wood v. Allen, found here, a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this term.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is still deciding the case.