The requirements he applied are that there be "(1) significantly subaverage intellectual functioning; (2) significant deficits in adaptive behavioral skills" (how a person copes with common life demands and whether they meet standards of personal independence expected of someone of their age, background and community setting); "and (3) onset of the condition before age eighteen."
Two legal principles also guided the judge, with the first being that determining mental retardation is a question of fact, not of law, and the second being that the burden was on Wilson to prove "that he is more likely than not mentally retarded."
Garaufis used the IQ target score of 70, acknowledging room for error, as a reference point advocated by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
The judge considered both the "Flynn effect"—rising standards of intelligence on the "norm" for determining mental retardation, and the "practice effect"—the fact that people do better when they are retested within a short period of time.
Wilson has had eight complete IQ tests dating back to 1989, Garaufis said, and "all but one of Wilson's Flynn-adjusted scores fall at least three points above 70," which suggested that "his true IQ score lies in that area." The judge also said there was a diminished "practice effect" because Wilson was never administered two intelligence tests within the same year.
He said Wilson's first three Flynn-adjusted scores averaged 77.47 and his last three—taken in 2000, 2003 (just six months after the crimes) and 2012—averaged 77.91.
Altogether, the judge said, "Wilson's tests strongly suggest that his true IQ score is more likely than not above 70. That is a compelling indication that he does not suffer from significantly subaverage intellectual functioning."
But Garaufis also considered the opinions of the clinicians who administered the tests and "not one" of them concluded that Wilson was mentally retarded. In fact, "most of the test administrators believed that Wilson's observed IQ scores represented an underestimate of his true intelligence."
Garaufis scheduled the penalty phase for May 20. He said the "extraordinary pretrial publicity" in the case warrants having 2,000 potential jurors fill out questionnaires over five days starting on April 3, with voir dire to begin on April 17.
The publicity stems from news reports concerning Metropolitan Detention Center Corrections Officer Nancy Gonzalez, who admitted to having sex with Wilson at the MDC and becoming pregnant. Gonzalez was arraigned on Feb. 5 on charges of sexual abuse of a person in custody.
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Tom Mennella
Let the trial begin!
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