aggravating-circumstances

32 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
23-92 James Edwin Hoganson v. Colorado Colorado 2023-08-01 Denied aggravating-circumstances apprendi-v-new-jersey blakely-v-washington constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing due-process jury-determination jury-trial reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Where a maximum prison term may be doubled upon a finding of "extraordinary … aggravating circumstances," does the Sixth Amendment require th e existe…
23-5140 Ralph Castillo v. Richard Martinez, Warden, et al. New Mexico 2023-07-19 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances criminal-rights due-process jury-determination jury-trial plea-agreement plea-bargaining sentencing-enhancement sentencing-procedure sixth-amendment 1. Was it proper for the State to intentionally mislead the court when it required that petitioner show the presumption of equality when the real issu…
22-7373 Victor M. Miranda-Guerrero v. California California 2023-04-26 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances apprendi-v-new-jersey constitutional-rights criminal-procedure death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances sentencing sentencing-procedure Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
22-6514 Santiago Pineda v. California California 2023-01-11 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty jury-determination jury-fact-finding mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing-procedure Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
22-6445 Juan Villa Ramirez v. California California 2023-01-04 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-finding ring-v-arizona sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt the ex…
22-6088 Tupoutoe Mataele v. California California 2022-11-17 Denied IFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment 8th-amendment aggravating-circumstances constitutional-requirements criminal-sentencing death-penalty jury-finding jury-trial reasonable-doubt Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt the ex…
22-6071 Manuel Bracamontes v. California California 2022-11-16 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
22-5695 Christopher Eric Poore v. California California 2022-09-28 Denied IFP 5th-6th-14th-amendments aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process jury-finding jury-trial reasonable-doubt sentencing Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt the ex…
21-7296 Frank C. Gonzalez v. California California 2022-03-07 Denied IFP 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment jury jury-finding sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt the ex…
21-6669 Robert Walter Scully v. California California 2021-12-21 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances beyond-reasonable-doubt constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances statutory-maximum Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
20-1136 Peter Capote v. Alabama Alabama 2021-02-19 Denied 6th-amendment aggravating-circumstances capital-punishment death-penalty judicial-fact-finding judicial-weighing jury-trial mitigating-circumstances sentencing-scheme sixth-amendment 1. Whether the Alabama death penalty sentencing scheme, which leaves it to the judge to find whether the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitiga…
20-6633 Eduardo David Vargas v. California California 2020-12-15 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment jury-finding jury-trial reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt the ex…
20-5617 David Allen Rundle v. Ron Davis, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-09-08 Denied IFP 28-usc-2254 aggravating-circumstances federal-review habeas-corpus incest ineffective-assistance-of-counsel psychological-impairment psychological-impairments sexual-abuse state-court-determination 1. Was the state court's summary denial of Petitioner's claims that defense counsels' failure to present evidence corroborating his sexual abuse by h…
20-5562 Jeffrey Hessler v. Nebraska Nebraska 2020-09-03 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-amendments death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment hurst-v-florida judicial-panel jury-determination post-conviction-relief ring-v-arizona sixth-amendment Are the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as Ring and Hurst, violated when eligibility for the death penalty is asserted to be decided …
20-250 Mark Anthony Poole v. Florida Florida 2020-09-01 Denied aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment hurst-precedent hurst-v-florida jury-recommendation mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment I. Whether the Florida Supreme Court erred in reinstating a capital sentence issued under Florida's pre-2016 scheme, in contravention of this Court's …
20-5517 Scotty Ray Gardner v. Arkansas Arkansas 2020-08-27 Denied IFP access-to-courts aggravating-circumstance aggravating-circumstances appellate-review capital-punishment capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process jury-instructions I. In a state in which the death penalty is authorized only upon a finding of an enumerated aggravating circumstance, does due process require that ev…
19-7649 Socorro Susan Caro v. California California 2020-02-12 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-beyond-reasonable-doubt jury-finding jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt (1) th…
19-7429 Louis Mitchell, Jr. v. California California 2020-01-28 Denied IFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-circumstances aggravating-mitigating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-beyond-reasonable-doubt jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
19-6235 Scott Thomas Erskine v. California California 2019-10-10 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing constitutional-amendments cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty due-process equal-protection jury-trial jury-unanimity narrowing-requirement sentencing I. Does California's death penalty statute violate the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by failing to…
19-6101 Raymond Eugene Johnson v. Tommy Sharp, Interim Warden Tenth Circuit 2019-09-30 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing death-penalty factfinder harm lockett-v-ohio mitigating-circumstances prejudice 1. Should the Court recalibrate the frameworks for judging the prejudice or harm of capital sentencing errors in jurisdictions where the factfinder ma…
19-5394 Michael Leon Bell v. California California 2019-07-30 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances capital-punishment constitutional-procedure death-penalty due-process fourteenth-amendment jury-fact-finding jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing sentencing-standards sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt (1) th…
18-9579 James D. Tench v. Ohio Ohio 2019-06-07 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances capital-defendant capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty' 'When a reviewing court independen due-process evidence-admission guilty-verdict hurst-v-florida jury jury-verdict mitigating-factors prejudicial-evidence sixth-amendment 1. Does the admission of improper and prejudicial evidence violate a capital defendant's right to due process where the record indicates that the jury…
18-9349 Robert Lee McConnell v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. Nevada 2019-05-20 Denied IFP 8th-amendment aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing constitutional-requirement due-process jury-finding mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt Whether the Constitution requires —in a state in which a jury is required to find that mitigating circumstances do not outweigh the aggravating circum…
18-8886 In Re James Rodgers, Jr. 2019-04-18 Denied IFP criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection jurisdiction statutory-interpretation void-for-vagueness. aggravating-circumstances criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection facial-unconstitutionality gang-relation-element jurisdiction legislative-intent statutory-interpretation subject-matter-jurisdiction void-for-vagueness WHETHER ACTR NO. 92-601, AS ENROLLED, IS FACIALLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL (CODIFIED AS SUBSECTIONS (15), (16), (17), AND (18), OF SECTION 13A-5-40(a), CODE O…
18-8857 Jeffrey A. Weisheit v. Indiana Indiana 2019-04-16 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights criminal-procedure death-penalty ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-circumstances penalty-phase strickland-standard strickland-v-washington williams-v-taylor 1. Whether the Indiana Supreme Court contravened Strickland by acknowledging counsel made mistakes, but not finding them to be deficient performance e…
18-8753 Carl Devon Powell v. California California 2019-04-10 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury jury-beyond-reasonable-doubt jury-fact-finding mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme, which permits the trier of fact to impose a sentence of death without finding beyond a reasonable doubt (1) th…
18-8002 Brad Hunter Smith v. Arkansas Arkansas 2019-02-15 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstance aggravating-circumstances arbitrary-imposition capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment mitigating-circumstance mitigating-circumstances Whether the Arkansas Supreme Court's holding that a capital-sentencing jury permissibly declined to weigh an existent statutory mitigating circumstanc…
18-7442 Kevin Underwood v. Mike Carpenter, Warden Tenth Circuit 2019-01-16 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances apprendi-v-new-jersey beyond-reasonable-doubt capital-punishment capital-punishment-scheme capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process jury-findings jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt supreme-court-precedent tenth-circuit Whether the Tenth Circuit's decision – that the "beyond the reasonable doubt" standard does not apply to the critical and prerequisite finding by Okla…
18-6901 Enoch D. Hall v. Florida Florida 2018-12-03 Denied IFP advisory-panel aggravating-circumstances Caldwell-v-Mississippi civil-rights constitutional-due-process death-penalty due-process harmless-error hurst-decision jury-instructions jury-role jury-sentencing sentencing sentencing-process unanimous-recommendation On remand from the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida, the Florida Supreme Court held, as a state constitutional consequence, that a…
18-6882 Willie Seth Crain, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2018-11-30 Denied IFP remedies prior constitutional defects in capital which requires unanimous jury findings of aggrava advisory-sentencing-panel aggravating-circumstances caldwell-v-mississippi capital-sentencing civil-rights constitutional-error death-penalty death-penalty-sentencing due-process harmless-error Hurst-decision hurst-v-florida jury-instructions jury-role jury-unanimity mitigating-circumstances sentencing sentencing-procedure On remand from the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida, the Florida Supreme Court held, as a state constitutional consequence, that a…
18-679 Erick Virgil Hall v. Idaho Idaho 2018-11-23 Denied Amici (1) aggravating-circumstances capital-punishment capital-sentencing constitutional-standards death-penalty felony-murder heinous-atrocious-cruel jury-sentencing narrowing-requirement propensity-to-commit-murder sentencing-guidance utter-disregard To prevent arbitrary imposition of the death penalty, this Court has required use of "'clear and objective standards' that provide 'specific and detai…
18-5331 Ralph Simon Jeremias v. Nevada Nevada 2018-07-24 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances confrontation-clause constitutional-standard death-penalty due-process hurst-v-florida jury-finding jury-trial mitigating-circumstances ring-v-arizona 1. Whether the Consti tution requi res – i n a state i n whi ch a jury i s requi red to fi nd that mi tigating ci rcumstances do not outwei gh the agg…