072385P.pdf   01/23/2009  Andrew Sasser  v.  Larry Norris
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  07-2385
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas - Texarkana   
   [PUBLISHED] [Riley, Author, with Bright and Melloy, Circuit Judges]
   Prisoner case - habeas. District court erred in finding that Sasser had
   procedurally defaulted on his claim that his death sentence violates the
   Eighth Amendment because he is mentally retarded, and the case is
   remanded for an evidentiary hearing; district court properly concluded
   that Sasser's ineffective assistance of counsel claim was not before the
   court because this court's remand order limited the issue to the question
   of whether Sasser was mentally retarded and whether pursuant to Atkins
   the Eighth Amendment prohibits his execution; government's claim that
   the habeas petition was time barred had been waived by the state's failure
   to assert a statute of limitations defense.