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Ninth Circuit Reverses Arizona Death Sentence (Again)

By Michael Romano

For the second time in this case, a Ninth Circuit panel granted habeas relief and reversed the capital sentence of an Arizona man on death row since 1982.  Lambright v. Schriro, No. 04-99010 (Ferguson, Reinhardt, Thompson).  The three-judge panel issued a per curium opinion on Friday, reversing the district court below and ruling that petitioner's trial counsel failed to adequately investigate and present ?classic? mitigating evidence at the sentencing phase of the state court trial?including evidence of drug addiction and mental illness.  The petitioner was convicted of raping and murdering a hitchhiker at an Arizona campsite. This is the second time this three-judge panel reversed Lambright's death sentence.  In 1999, the panel held that Lambright's joint trial, before two juries, with his co-defendant violated due process...continue to full post

Full post as published by Criminal Appeal on May 12, 2007 (boomark / email).