# Pruitt v. State

> Indiana Supreme Court · March 31, 2009 · 903 N.E.2d 899

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9505019

## Case

- **Full name:** Tommy PRUITT, Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Respondent Below)
- **Court:** Indiana Supreme Court
- **Decided:** March 31, 2009
- **Citations:** 903 N.E.2d 899; 2009 Ind. LEXIS 338; 2009 WL 884784
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Rucker
- **Judges:** Boehm, Dickson, Rucker, Shepard, Sullivan
- **Cited by:** 107 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9505019

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- explaining that where Pruitt’s post-conviction court judge was the same judge who had presided over his trial and where Pruitt’s affidavit in Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 22A-PC-143| August 11, 2023 Page 33 of 34 support of his motion for a change of judge had shown n…
- explaining that where Pruitt’s affidavit in support of his motion for a change of judge had shown no historical facts that had demonstrated personal bias on the part of the post-conviction court judge, Pruitt had been provided with a full and fair post-conviction relief hearin…
- noting, where Pruitt’s post-conviction review judge was the same judge who presided over his trial, that ―Pruitt’s affidavit in support of his motion for change of judge shows no historical facts that demonstrate personal bias or prejudice on the part of [the trial judge]‖ and…
- noting that Flynn effect refers “to the gradual escalation of intelligence test scores over long periods of time”

## Opinion text

RUCKER, Justice,
dissenting.
On direct appeal I was convinced that Pruitt was mentally retarded and thus not eligible for a death sentence. See Pruitt v. State, 834 N.E.2d 90, 123-26 (Ind.2005) (Rucker, J., dissenting). After examining the evidence presented to the post-conviction court, I am even more convinced today. Pruitt's status has not changed. He was and still is mentally retarded. I would therefore reverse his death sentence and remand this cause with instructions to impose a term of years.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9505019. Public record. Not legal advice.