Supreme Court upholds death sentence

The SC Supreme Court, in a majority decision handed down May 31, upheld the death sentence imposed on a Chesnee man for the 2009 execution style killing of an 8- year-old girl.

Among the claims the majority of the state Supreme Court justices rejected was a defense contention that Ricky Lee Blackwell was legally mentally retarded and couldn't be put to death. The majority of the Supreme Court members found that Circuit Court Judge Roger Couch had properly relied on expert testimony and other evidence in finding otherwise.