Judge: Death Row Inmate Can Pursue Disability Claims

This image provided the Tennessee Department of Correction, shows death row inmate Tyrone Chalmers, whos was convicted of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery in the 1994 killing of a 28-year-old man in Memphis. Tennessee Department of Correction via AP

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—A Tennessee death row inmate convicted of a 1994 slaying can pursue arguments that he is intellectually disabled and should not be executed under state law, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris issued an order Tuesday granting a stay in federal court proceedings for Tyrone Chalmers, who was convicted in 1997 of robbing a man of $3 and killing him in Shelby County.