By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:02 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:33 EST, 27 November 2012 . A convicted cop killer is hoping to avoid the death penalty by using the increasingly common defense that he isn’t smart enough to face execution for his brutal crimes. Ronell Wilson, now 30, was convicted of the 2003 murder of detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin during an undercover sting in the New York borough of Staten Island. On Monday lawyers for Wilson began trying to convince a federal judge to uphold an appeals court's decision to overturn his death sentence. Too dumb to die? Wilson's Facebook pages includes inspirational quotes and this photo of him proudly displaying a Bloods gang tattoo on his toned bicep . Wilson pictured left in his 2003 mugshot and right in his current Facebook profile image . With an IQ of just under 70, defense attorneys say Wilson is mildly retarded and therefore should receive life in prison, rather than the death penalty. Prosecutors however plan to use letters, phone calls and emails sent by Wilson as evidence that he is at least smart enough to function - and to know right from wrong. Wilson’s Facebook page, which includes quotes from several acclaimed intellectuals including civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., author Ralph Ellison and industrialist Henry Ford, will also be used to counter claims that he is mentally retarded. Wilson, who joined Facebook a year ago, cites some of his likes as vocabulary and writing, while his page also includes a photo of him proudly displaying a Bloods gang tattoo on his toned bicep. In a procedure expected to last three weeks, the judge will examine Wilson’s complete educational history, as well as a formal IQ score and adaptive function tests. If he scores low enough, it could save his life. Convicted murderer Wilson has posted a famous quote from famous African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. on his Facebook page . Wilson's Facebook page also included quotes from industrialist Henry Ford and author Ralph Ellison . The judge will also consider if a . mentally handicap person would be capable of understanding the . inspirational quotes posted on his page. In . January Wilson posted this by thoughtful remark by Rev. King: ‘True . compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar . . . It understands . that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.’ From ‘Invisible Man’ author Ellison, he quoted: ‘It takes a deeper commitment 2 change and an even deeper commitment 2 grow.’ ‘Coming . 2gether is a beginning; Keepin 2gether is a process; Working 2gether is . a success,’ is a remark originally made by Henry Ford, founder of Ford . Motors. Wilson was convicted of murdering detectives James Nemorin, left, and Rodney Andrews, right,  during a 2003 undercover sting in the New York borough of Staten Island . Wilson does not have access to the internet from his cell on Death Row in Terre Haute, Ind., or at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he’s currently detained, so an outsider helps update his page. But Wilson does send emails that are posted to the page, reports the New York Post. Wilson is the latest of many killers to employ the low IQ defense, also known as the Atkins defense. The ‘not smart enough’ argument has been increasingly made on behalf of death row inmates since a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in Atkins v. Virginia, that held executing mentally retarded individuals violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments.
Ronell Wilson was convicted in 2003 of murdering two detectives .
His lawyers now want to convince a judge that he shouldn't face the death penalty because he 'wasn't smart enough to know what he was doing'
The low IQ defense is increasingly made on behalf of death row inmates .
Yet his Facebook page includes inspirational quotes from noted thinkers .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:02 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:33 EST, 27 November 2012 . A convicted cop killer is hoping to avoid the death penalty by using the increasingly common defense that he isn’t smart enough to face execution for his brutal crimes. Ronell Wilson, now 30, was convicted of the 2003 murder of detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin during an undercover sting in the New York borough of Staten Island. On Monday lawyers for Wilson began trying to convince a federal judge to uphold an appeals court's decision to overturn his death sentence. Too dumb to die? Wilson's Facebook pages includes inspirational quotes and this photo of him proudly displaying a Bloods gang tattoo on his toned bicep . Wilson pictured left in his 2003 mugshot and right in his current Facebook profile image . With an IQ of just under 70, defense attorneys say Wilson is mildly retarded and therefore should receive life in prison, rather than the death penalty. Prosecutors however plan to use letters, phone calls and emails sent by Wilson as evidence that he is at least smart enough to function - and to know right from wrong. Wilson’s Facebook page, which includes quotes from several acclaimed intellectuals including civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., author Ralph Ellison and industrialist Henry Ford, will also be used to counter claims that he is mentally retarded. Wilson, who joined Facebook a year ago, cites some of his likes as vocabulary and writing, while his page also includes a photo of him proudly displaying a Bloods gang tattoo on his toned bicep. In a procedure expected to last three weeks, the judge will examine Wilson’s complete educational history, as well as a formal IQ score and adaptive function tests. If he scores low enough, it could save his life. Convicted murderer Wilson has posted a famous quote from famous African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. on his Facebook page . Wilson's Facebook page also included quotes from industrialist Henry Ford and author Ralph Ellison . The judge will also consider if a . mentally handicap person would be capable of understanding the . inspirational quotes posted on his page. In . January Wilson posted this by thoughtful remark by Rev. King: ‘True . compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar . . . It understands . that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.’ From ‘Invisible Man’ author Ellison, he quoted: ‘It takes a deeper commitment 2 change and an even deeper commitment 2 grow.’ ‘Coming . 2gether is a beginning; Keepin 2gether is a process; Working 2gether is . a success,’ is a remark originally made by Henry Ford, founder of Ford . Motors. Wilson was convicted of murdering detectives James Nemorin, left, and Rodney Andrews, right, during a 2003 undercover sting in the New York borough of Staten Island . Wilson does not have access to the internet from his cell on Death Row in Terre Haute, Ind., or at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he’s currently detained, so an outsider helps update his page. But Wilson does send emails that are posted to the page, reports the New York Post. Wilson is the latest of many killers to employ the low IQ defense, also known as the Atkins defense. The ‘not smart enough’ argument has been increasingly made on behalf of death row inmates since a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in Atkins v. Virginia, that held executing mentally retarded individuals violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments.
Ronell Wilson, now 30, was convicted of the 2003 for Wilson began trying to convince a federal Wilson's Facebook pages includes inspirational in prison, rather than the death penalty. he is at least smart enough to function - and to know right from wrong. Wilson’s Facebook page, Wilson was convicted of murdering detectives the low IQ defense, also known as the Atkins increasingly made on behalf of death row inmates