Athena Strand Murder: Defense claims suspect has autism, shouldn’t face death penalty

FORT WORTH, Texas - Defense lawyers on the Athena Strand murder have asked for the death penalty to be taken off the table because the suspect has autism.

Tanner Horner’s Defense

What's new:

Tanner Horner’s defense team filed 28 new motions on Wednesday morning.

Most notably, there is a motion to preclude the death penalty because Horner has autism.

The motion states that the court has "categorically prohibited the imposition of the death penalty where a particular characteristic of the defendant renders him less culpable, negates the retributive and deterrent aims of capital punishment, or creates a risk of an erroneous death sentence."

It goes on to say that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder exhibit nearly all the same impairments as those with intellectual disabilities. Because it is unconstitutional for people with intellectual disabilities to be sentenced to death, the court must strike the death penalty option in this case.

The motion also mentions the Robert Roberson case as an example of another high-profile case where attorneys have argued that the defendant’s ASD led to his "wrongful conviction." In October, an appeals court halted Roberson’s execution and sent his case back down to a lower court.

What they're saying:

Criminal defense attorney Russell Wilson is not affiliated with the case. However, he can share his experience because he’s worked on both sides of the courtroom.

"The Supreme Court has held essentially if your mental disabilities are such that you cannot appreciate the nature of receiving the death penalty, then it shouldn’t be imposed on you," he said.

Wilson said the motion surrounding Horner’s mental state could involve extensive debate and testimony.

"I think this motion is a precursor so they can bring one. Remember, they can bring additional motions. Even if the judge denies this one, they can renew the motion later on. So, there’s no doubt there would have to be some factual basis to the statement of him being on the autism spectrum," Wilson said. 

He said it’s not uncommon for a defense team to file 28 motions at once like this, especially in a death penalty case.

"One of the things the public has to remember is if they don’t make the motion to the judge and at least get it ruled on, then they’re not able to raise it later. So some of these motions, the defense may not be expecting to prevail on. But they’re doing that as a matter of diligence," he said.

Dig deeper:

Other motions filed on Wednesday accuse the prosecution of being constitutionally vague in its charges and accuse the Wise County District Attorney of prosecutorial misconduct. 

There’s also one that aims to keep video of both jurors and witnesses during the trial off limits.

"It’s kind of a First Amendment issue between the public right to know, freedom of the press, particular witnesses, and privacy concerns to the extent that they have them," Wilson explained.

At this point, the judge hasn’t ruled on any of the motions.

Athena Strand’s Murder

The backstory:

Horner is charged with kidnapping and strangling 7-year-old Athena Strand at her family’s Wise County home in December 2022.

Authorities said Horner told investigators he accidentally hit the little girl with his truck while delivering a package to her home. She reportedly survived, but Horner told authorities he panicked and kidnapped her, later killing her.

In December, Horner’s defense team asked the judge to throw out all of those police interviews because of a possible violation of his Miranda Rights.

The trial was also moved to Tarrant County because defense attorneys successfully argued Horner wouldn’t get a fair trial in Wise County, given the extensive media coverage of the case.