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Cullen v. Pinholster Argued at Supreme Court

By Steve Hall

Courthouse News Service has the only coverage I've found of this case from the Ninth Circuit.  Avery Fellow writes, "Justices Review Role of Evidence in Habeas Cases." The Supreme Court on Tuesday considered whether a federal court can overturn a state criminal conviction when the prisoner failed to bring all the evidence before the state court.Scott Lynn Pinholster received a death sentence for murder, and California state courts denied post-conviction relief without an evidentiary hearing.A federal judge ordered an evidentiary hearing and granted habeas relief, finding that Pinholster's trial attorneys failed to present evidence of Pinholster's epilepsy, severe mental illness and brain damage.The 9th Circuit reversed, finding that Pinholster would have received the same sentence despite the evidence his attorneys could have presented in state court, but did not...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on November 10, 2010 (boomark / email).