[2] He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and was a member of the Corps of Cadets.
Despite the legal justification of the majority for striking down the policy, the opinion is nonetheless viewed as controversial in the Gay and Lesbian Community.
[3] Specifically, the Court cited Justice Koontz's observation that "it is indefensible to conclude that individuals who are mentally retarded are not to some degree less culpable for their criminal acts.
In a 2008 dissent in the death penalty case of Porter v. Commonwealth, Koontz, responding to the majority's use of procedural default to excuse the trial court's gross abuse of power in presiding over the trial in a different jurisdiction without a proper order of designation, observed that "[i]f the courts empowered to sit in judgment over those accused of typically heinous crimes fail to take the greatest care in assuring the fairness of the proceedings that result in the imposition of the death penalty, then it must inevitably follow in time that the death penalty statutes of this Commonwealth will no longer pass constitutional muster.
"[4] This statement was widely quoted in the media and reflects Justice Koontz's growing frustration with the manner in which the death penalty is administered in Virginia.