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Criminal Law

Capital Defense Weekly

Covering Capital Defense
By Karl R. Keys, Esq.

Post Frequency: 17.8/day

Last Entry: March 28, 2011 at 23:29:51

next edition

Posted on March 28, 2010
The important cases for the upcoming edition have been addressed here previously, chiefly the stay in Skinner. One curiously missed case missed last week and not previously covered is Ingram v. State, 2010 Ala. LEXIS 45. Ingram ultimately concludes: “Appellate courts must be careful to evaluate a claim that a prepared order drafted

“Every time a killer is sentenced to die, a school closes”

Posted on March 28, 2010
Via Doug Berman: The title of this post is the provocative first sentence of this effective FoxNews article, which is headlined “Just or Not, Cost of Death Penalty Is a Killer for State Budgets.” A subheading of the piece also coins the phrase “death row boondoggles,” which I may start using a

Skinner stayed

Posted on March 24, 2010
via SCOTUSBlog: The Supreme Court on Wednesday evening delayed the execution in Texas of Henry W. Skinner, at least until the Court acts on his new case seeking to pursue a civil rights claim that he was denied a chance to have DNA evidence tested in an attempt to prove his innocence of

draft available

Posted on March 23, 2010
I’m running much slower than I hoped. The draft edition is here, and it is large & unedited.

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off-topic: pd issues

Posted on March 22, 2010
As I was reading the NYT’s article on Sunday on public defender failings in New York. The article in the metro section is the justice system’s failing Kimberly Hurell-Harring and how her attorney, Pat Barber, missed key signs along the way to his client pleading guilty to a felony that was, under developing case

looking ahead

Posted on March 22, 2010
This week’s sneak peek of the weekly edition is after the jump. I should note two very notable prosecutorial wins: United States v. Caro (a Fourth Circuit FDPA case with a split panel) and In re Rhoades (Idaho Supreme Court holding six death row inmates lose on claims relating to Ring...

A shocker out of Tennessee

Posted on March 15, 2010
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has granted relief in Timothy Terell McKinney v. State, 2010 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 219 (Tenn Crim App 3/9/2010). In addressing the propriety of penalty phase relief the Court holds that failure to present residual doubt evidence (at least on these facts) amounts to ineffective assistance of [...

Hank Skinner

Posted on March 15, 2010
Hank Skinner is scheduled to die in a few days. His latest legal documents are here. Long story short, the legal team is trying to get DNA tested that could exculpate Mr. Skinner and not pulling any punches. The Innocence Project notes on these efforts: Hank Skinner was sentenced to death in 1995 for allegedly killing his

weekly not going out this week

Posted on March 15, 2010
We publish the weekly 40 or so times a years. As happens from time to time, the weekly won’t go out this week. My apologies for any inconvenience.

First sunny non-cold day in weeks;

Posted on March 08, 2010
First sunny non-cold day in weeks; weekly will (hopefully) run tomorrow.

under the radar lethal injection challenge appears to be heading to trial

Posted on March 06, 2010
In news of the next possible wave of challenges to lethal injection, Ringo v. Lombardi, Case No. 09-4095-CV-C-NKL, a federal district court judge in the Western District of Missouri on Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss in a challenge to that state’s lethal injection statute...

weekly edition is now available

Posted on March 01, 2010
The weekly edition is now available. From the intro: Leading off this edition is the stunning opinion from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Ex parte Charles Hood. The Hood Court appears to go out of its way to grant relief on a Penry claim that potentially had substantial procedural problems, and likewise went out [...

Charles Dean Hood wins Penry relief in TX CCA

Posted on February 25, 2010
Charles Dean Hood wins Penry relief in TX CCA. The decision from the State Court of Criminal Appeals did not mention the affair, focusing instead on whether jurors had been blocked from getting information that might have helped them deliver a less severe sentence.

weekly

Posted on February 23, 2010
The weekly edition is now available. From the intro: Leading off this week is another capital GVR. In Thaler v. Anthony Haynes the Court held “that a trial judge need not personally observe a potential juror?s behavior in deciding later whether that juror was denied a seat on the panel because of race, despite [...

SCOTUS action

Posted on February 22, 2010
Another GVR per curiam. Via SCOTUSBlog: Resuming its increased use of deciding cases without full briefing or argument, the Supreme Court ruled summarily on Monday that a trial judge need not personally observe a potential juror?s behavior in deciding later whether that juror was denied a seat on the panel because of race, despite the prosecutor?s [...

Weekly running delayed

Posted on February 21, 2010
In light of a heavy briefing schedule in a case that’s scheduled to start trial on March 1st, I’m running late this week. The initial peek at case law suggests a light week, save for Pennsylvania.

Texas: Hank Skinner

Posted on February 18, 2010
Hank Skinner’s execution date has been reset for late March.

weekly

Posted on February 16, 2010
From this week’s edition: Leading off this week is Thomas Robert Lane v. State from the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.The decision is relatively straight forward, relief granted as the trial court infringed on the right of the choice of counsel under the Sixth Amendment...

Texas job opening

Posted on February 16, 2010
via StandDown The Office of Capital Writs, created by the Texas Legislature in 2009, is on about looking for a director. Here’s the posting: Job Posting: Director, Texas Office of Capital Writs Brand new Texas Office of Capital Writs seeks a Director...

sneak peek

Posted on February 15, 2010
After the jump, a look at the case law for the next edition: In favor of the individual: Thomas Robert Lane v. State, 2010 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 2 (Ala. Crim. App. 2/5/2010) “Defendant’s convictions for capital murder were improper because he was wrongly denied his right to counsel of choice under U...

quick look at this week’s new case law

Posted on February 08, 2010
So far we’ve spotted only a handful of decisions of note for the next email edition, all of which are after the jump Robert W. Jackson, III v. Danberg, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 2100 (3rd Cir 2/1/2010) Panel upholds Delaware letha l injection protocols but takes it to task for its “blitheness...

this week’s edition.

Posted on February 08, 2010
Leading off this edition: No new opinions of note are had this edition. In the news, NPR’s Fresh Air has an exceptional piece interviewing David Dow discussing his Autobiography of an Execution. In a sign of the times, Gabriel Gonzales returned to the same Bexar County courtroom Monday where, 13 years earlier, a jury had condemned him [...

A closer look at an upcoming execution date: Hank Skinner

Posted on February 07, 2010
Where DNA evidence exists in a capital case common sense suggests it should be tested. Texas, in Hank Skinner’s case, says no. In a little over two weeks Texas is scheduled to kill Hank Skinner despite large quantities of potentially exculpatory DNA evidence readily available for testing...

weekly up

Posted on February 01, 2010
From the weekly: Three favorable cases are noted since the last edition, State ex rel. Andrew Lyons v. Lombardi (Missouri), Joseph E. Corcoran v. Levenhagen (Seventh Circuit), and Leon Winston v. Kelly (Fourth Circuit). The Missouri Supreme Court’s grant of relief in State ex rel...

Delaware’s lethal injection protocol upheld

Posted on February 01, 2010
The Third Circuit on Monday upheld Delaware’s lethal injection protocol, Robert W. Jackson, III v. Danberg. The panel’s opinion concludes: But whatever one?s personal feelings about the death penalty, no reasonable person disputes that the execution of a human being, no matter how heinous his or her crime, is a most solemn and weighty matter...

Kentucky Lethal Injection

Posted on February 01, 2010
Monday is the last day to submit comments on KY execution procedures. Please fax comments to Department of Corrections by 4:30 p.m. eastern time on Monday. Number is 502-564-6686. Address them to Amy Barker. Execution procedures can be found at http://kcadp...

weekly

Posted on January 26, 2010
From this week’s email edition, which is now available: Leading off this edition is Wellons v. Hall. In this per curiam opinion, the Court grants certiorari and remands, in light Cone v. Bell. As the ABA Journal notes: “[s]ome jurors hearing the case against defendant Marcus Wellons gave the trial judge chocolate shaped as male genitalia [...

Looking towards the next edition

Posted on January 25, 2010
The next email edition should be going out Monday night. The initial review of recent cases either handed down since the last edition or not otherwise available last week includes: SCOTUS Wellons v. Hall, No. 09?5731; 2010 U.S. LEXIS 762 (1/19/2010) Our earlier coverage...

SCOTUS decides Woods v. Allen

Posted on January 21, 2010
The opinion in Wood v. Allen is here. Long story short, an odd opinion, an odd lineup, and I need to reread as I strongly suspect there is more going on here than a first blush reading reveals. The Justice Sotomayor majority opinion upholding the death sentence in Wood pulled two Justices (Ginsburg & [...

Keller issued a free pass

Posted on January 20, 2010
Jeff Gamso sums up my reaction to Sharon Keller’s “free pass” today than I ever could. His post is hits it on the head.

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