Page:Bobby James Moore v. Texas.pdf/3

Rh U. S., at ___–___ (slip op., at 10–12). With respect to the third criterion, we found general agreement that any onset took place when Moore was a minor. Id., at ___, n. 3 (slip op., at 4, n. 3).

But there was significant disagreement between the state courts about whether Moore had the adaptive deficits needed for intellectual disability. “In determining the significance of adaptive deficits, clinicians look to whether an individual’s adaptive performance falls two or more standard deviations below the mean in any of the three adaptive skill sets (conceptual, social, and practical).” Id., at ___ (slip op., at 4) (citing AAIDD–11, at 43). Based on the evidence before it, the trial court found that “Moore’s performance fell roughly two standard deviations below the mean in all three skill categories.” 581 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 4); see App. to Pet. for Cert. 309a. Reversing that decision, the appeals court held that Moore had “not proven by a preponderance of the evidence” that he possessed the requisite adaptive deficits, and thus was eligible for the death penalty. Ex parte Moore I, 470 S. W. 3d, at 520. We disagreed with the appeals court’s adaptive-functioning analysis, however, and identified at least five errors.

First, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals “overemphasized Moore’s perceived adaptive strengths.” Moore, 581 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 12). “But the medical community,” we said, “focuses the adaptive-functioning inquiry on adaptive deficits.” Ibid.

Second, the appeals court “stressed Moore’s improved behavior in prison.” Id., at ___ (slip op., at 13). But “[c]linicians… caution against reliance on adaptive strengths developed ‘in a controlled setting,’ as a prison surely is.” Ibid. (quoting DSM–5, at 38).

Third, the appeals court “concluded that Moore’s record of academic failure,… childhood abuse[,] and suffering… detracted from a determination that his intellectual