Jose Ferrer-Sosa v. United States
CriminalProcedure JusticiabilityDoctri
1. Whether the right to a fair trial is violated when a judge tells the jury that the only witness to a conspiracy was competent, after the witness had provided uncorroborated, vague, bizarre, contradictory, and unresponsive testimony.
2. Whether the district court erred in sentencing the defendant to a life sentence, when the element of death that increases the punishment from 10 years to life was not found by the jury, in violation of Apprendi v. United States.
3. Whether the appeals court erred by not considering defendant's arguments on the prosecution's nondisclosure of a relevant mental health condition suffered by the only witness to the conspiracy when it was part of the conviction and sentence appealed.
Whether the right to a fair trial is violated when a judge tells the jury that the only witness to a conspiracy was competent after providing uncorroborated and contradictory testimony; whether the district court erred in sentencing the defendant to life imprisonment without jury finding of death-qualifying element; whether the appeals court erred by not considering prosecution's nondisclosure of witness's mental health condition