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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

Last week’s cases

Posted on September 28, 2010
Since the last edition: In favor of an individual Leonard Edward Smith v. State, 2010 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 793 (Tenn. Crim. App.9/21/2010) ?[T]he post-conviction court erred in denying the Petitioner’s claim that his trial attorneys provided constitutionally ineffective assistance in their investigation and presentation of available evidence in support of their motion to recuse [...

Georgia

Posted on September 23, 2010
Georgia is pushing hard for Brandon Rhode‘s execution to happen.

Virginia snuffs out a life

Posted on September 23, 2010
wires note A Virginia grandmother who hired two men to murder her husband and stepson, so she could pocket their $250,000 life insurance policy, was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Greensville Correctional Center, Va., the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported...

midweek update & errata

Posted on September 22, 2010
Midweek wrap: Teresa Lewis has lost before the United States Supreme Court in her attempts to stop her scheduled killing by the Commonwealth of Virginia on Thursday. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell previously denied clemency. “A hearing is underway to determine if a condemned triple murderer is competent to be executed Friday in light of an [...

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last edition of summer 2010

Posted on September 20, 2010
This week’s edition notes: Leading off this edition are two cases from unlikely suspects. This past Wednesday the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted habeas relief in Ex Parte Jimmie Urbano Lucero holding “that applicant?s counsel failed to investigate applicant?s background or present mitigating evidence at the punishment phase in violation of Rompilla v Beard...

week’s snap preview

Posted on September 19, 2010
In the scrum that is capital litigation, for the next edition we’ve spotted: US Joshua Wayne Andrews v. Commonwealth, 2010 Va. LEXIS 239 (Va 9/16/2010) Death sentence vacated and remanded for assessment of punishment where the Commonwealth erred in the in which it proceeded to assert the aggravating factors in an apparent duplicitious manner...

A mid-September edition

Posted on September 16, 2010
This week’s edition is available here. From the intro: Leading off this week is an odd case, Harry Mitts v. Bagley, from the Sixth Circuit. I call the case odd as the trial court’s instruction the majority holds, required jurors to acquit Mr...

Us & them

Posted on September 14, 2010
The Weekly edition is likely to go out sometime on Wednesday. Noted since the last edition: US Harry Mitts v. Bagley, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 18736; 2010 FED App. 0291P (6th Cir 9/8/2010) ” Beck compels that proper instructions must make clear that the jury does not have to complete its death deliberation before considering [...

Week’s timeline

Posted on September 13, 2010
Coming off of vacation in an (unexpectedly) no internet zone (yes they still exist). Catching up with a trial call on Monday. Put another way, I’m running later than I would like & the weekly might not run if the trial call, which is highly unlikely to go, actually happens...

Ohio (and Sixth Circuit) happenings

Posted on September 02, 2010
Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio commuted Kevin Keith‘s death sentence today. Gov. Strickland used the power to commute a death sentence in the same way, since time immemorial, governors have used it, as the final safety valve in the criminal justice system to prevent the possible execution of the factually innocent...

weekly

Posted on August 31, 2010
This week’s edition is now available: This last of August edition sees no appellate “defense wins.” Two federal district court success stories are, however, noted. In the Eastern District of Michigan, a jury sentenced Timothy O?Reilly, to life despite during the guilt it having convicted him of murdering an armored car guard during a [...

not a good week

Posted on August 29, 2010
The last full week of August reveals a large number of losses, and a lone federal trial court win Defense Timothy O’Reilly, having been convicted of murdering an armored car guard during a robbery, was sentenced to life following a jury trial in the Eastern District of Michigan...

weekly edition now available

Posted on August 24, 2010
What could be described as the “where did the summer go” edition of the weekly is now online: Leading off this edition is the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Bradley Martin. During the course of ordering a new penalty phase trial, the Martin Court holds trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate [...

first look at late summer’s case law

Posted on August 22, 2010
Since the last edition the following cases have been noted: For Life Steven Edward Crittenden v. Ayers, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 17401 (9th Cir 8/20/2010) Remand ordered for adjudication of Batson claim in light of Circuit precedent. Remaining claims denied relief: “[A] whether Crittenden?s trial counsel were constitutionally ineffective; [B] whether the shackling of Crittenden [...

this week’s edition

Posted on August 16, 2010
This week’s edition covers cases decided since the start of August: After a summer’s drought of relevant favorable case law, the dry snap appears to be broken. Leading off this edition is the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision in State v...

First look

Posted on August 15, 2010
The first look at the next edition’s case law: In favorem vitae State v. Gary Wayne Snelling, 2010 Ariz. LEXIS 38 (Az 8/9/2010) “Absent any evidence of defensive injuries, a struggle, or pleas for help, the record shows only that [the victim] was suddenly confronted by an assailant who promptly strangled her to death...

dog days of summer edition

Posted on August 10, 2010
This week’s edition is up and available. Leading off this week is the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeal’s decision in Mark Dwyatt Brown v. State. The issue in Brown is the difference, under state law, between capital murder and felony-murder...

this week’s decisions

Posted on August 09, 2010
This week’s selection of cases offers a few exceptionally large cases, a couple of wins, and many losses. Warren Darrell Rivers v. Thaler, No 09-70031 (5th Cir 8/5/2010)(unpublsihed) State appealed the district court’s grant of relief on jury instructions under Penry I...

this week’s edition

Posted on August 03, 2010
From this week’s edition: The Utah Supreme Court in State v. Douglas Anderson Lovell leads off this edition. The issue in Lovell is whether the condemned should have been permitted to withdraw his plea of guilty which, subsequently, resulted in a death sentence...

case law from the last few weeks of July

Posted on August 01, 2010
After the jump, the case law for the next edition. Surprisingly a Red State win: In favor of the Accused or the Condemned State v. Douglas Anderson Lovell, 2010 UT 48; 2010 Utah LEXIS 112 (Utah 7/27/2010) Permission to withdraw a plea of guilty, that subsequently resulted in a death sentence, granted...

now available

Posted on July 27, 2010
From the intro to this week’s roundup: As often happens in midsummer, this week’s edition is light on new opinions and no defense “wins” are noted. In the news, DPIC reports that the “execution date for Texas death row inmate Humberto Leal was postponed after the presiding judge received a letter from a high-ranking U...

themes

Posted on July 06, 2010
After a brief peek at the next edition, I strongly suspect the quality of counsel (and indigent defense systems) will be a theme.

Texas stay

Posted on June 30, 2010
Local media reports that “four hours before convicted killer Jonathan Green was to have been executed in Huntsville, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay in order to consider arguments that Green is delusional and too mentally ill to be put to death...

Second Circuit win

Posted on June 30, 2010
Today in United States v. Ronnell Wilson the Second Circuit, on direct appeal, granted penalty phase relief, because two arguments made to the jury by the prosecution– both bearing on the critical issues of remorse, acceptance of responsibility, and future dangerousness–impaire dWilson?s constitutional rights...

Term close out

Posted on June 29, 2010
The Court on Tuesday ended the Term with one last capital case. In Sears v. Upton the Court closed out Justice Stevens service with the Court much as it had done a decade before with Justice Blackmun’s era on the Court. Five justices voted to grant the petition of ceriorari, vacate the decision below, and [...

weekly edition

Posted on June 23, 2010
This week’s edition is now available: The Supreme Court’s holding in Albert Holland v. Florida leads off this edition. The headnote to the case places the holding well when it notes that “Holland diligently pursued his rights by writing [counsel] numerous letters seeking crucial information and providing direction, by repeatedly requesting that [counsel] be removed [...

Troy Davis presents his case

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Troy Davis evidentiary hearing began today: On Wednesday, the courtroom fell silent as Davis entered from a side door. Davis, dressed in a white, prison-issued shirt and pants with blue trim, smiled briefly at his mother before sitting down at the defense table...

two for the next edition

Posted on June 23, 2010
Two favorable cases so far noted for the next edition: Balentine v. Thaler, No. 09-70026 (5th Cir 6/18/2010) Grant of an evidentiary hearing on “whether Balentine?s trial counsel ineffectively investigated for mitigation evidence to present during sentencing...

first look

Posted on June 22, 2010
First look after the jump. An unusually large amount of cases, many favorable. Apologies for the delay: Defendant, Life, Liberty Holland v. Florida, No 09-5327 (6/14/2010) “In a capital habeas matter, the Eleventh Circuit’s affirmance of the denial of petitioner’s habeas petition is reversed and remanded where: 1) 28 U...

working on it

Posted on June 21, 2010
Weekly edition will be out Monday night, with any kind of luck.

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