[PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR ...

not have the ability to learn on the level of an average child.” Although he was
first on the waiting list at that school, it was not until sixth grade that Holladay was
able to be placed in a special education class. Holladay apparently did well in that
class, with one of the teachers commenting that she believed his problems were
more related to conflict within his home environment than serious intellectual
limitations. She apparently based this statement on the fact that he had “some
success in math” and “could say back to her some of the things that she read to
him.” In correspondence regarding his time at the Industrial School, it was
suggested that because his impaired cognitive abilities prevented him from
succeeding elsewhere, he should be placed in a trade school. There is nothing in
the record, though, to suggest that this was ever done. Holladay remains
functionally illiterate.
Holladay’s work history is quite sparse because of his inability to retain jobs
and his frequent incarcerations. According to a chart compiled by one of the
experts, the longest that Holladay held a job was nine months. His jobs included
pumping gas (which he had to leave because he could not work the cash register),
loading trucks, stacking boxes, carrying and tearing off shingles from roofs,
picking up trash for money, and assisting his father with painting. Of the last job,
his brothers and Holladay reported that he could only do the unskilled labor and
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