aggravating-factors
45 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-5920 | Donald Otis Williams v. Florida | Florida | 2025-10-21 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-challenge death-penalty first-degree-murder legislative-expansion proportionality-review | Whether the Florida Legislature's expansion of the applicability of our statute's "aggravating factors" requirements, Section 921.141(6), Florida Stat… |
| 25-5184 | Matthew Lee Caylor v. Florida | Florida | 2025-07-24 | Dismissed | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-sentencing constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-waiver | I. Whether accepting a defendant's waiver of the right to a trial by jury and the jury's full consideration of mitigating evidence in a death penalty … |
| 24-581 | Utah v. Douglas A. Lovell | Utah | 2024-11-26 | Denied | Relisted (2) | aggravating-factors criminal-sentencing death-penalty ineffective-assistance-counsel mitigation-evidence strickland-standard | Did the Utah Supreme Court violate this Court's binding case law when it failed to (1) properly assess Strickland deficient performance by considering… |
| 24A100 | Brennaris Marquis Johnson v. Washington | Washington | 2024-07-29 | Presumed Complete | aggravating-factors criminal-sentencing judicial-discretion jury-trial sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment | Whether a sentence above the statutory presumptive range violates the jury trial right where the judge may not impose such a sentence, even after a ju… | |
| 23-7029 | Byron James Shepard v. Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 2024-03-19 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-circumstance aggravating-factors capital-punishment capital-sentencing criminal-procedure death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-discretion | Does Oklahoma's continuing threat aggravating circumstance violate this Court's capital sentencing jurisprudence and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendme… |
| 23-7024 | Thomas Bevel v. Florida | Florida | 2024-03-19 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors arbitrary-sentencing capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment proportionality-review reasonable-doubt | L. Whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Eighth Amendment because the controlling statute does not meaningfully limit the class of … |
| 23-6262 | Raymond Clyde Robideau v. Minnesota | Minnesota | 2023-12-14 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-rights criminal-procedure double-jeopardy judicial-discretion jury-trial jury-trial-waiver remand state-remand waiver | I. Is a court required to obtain a renewed jury-trial waiver when the State amends it's Aggravating Factor[s] after remand from State's Highest Cour… |
| 23-5565 | William E. Wells, III v. Florida | Florida | 2023-09-13 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment mental-illness proportionality-review | L. Whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Eighth Amendment because the controlling statute does not meaningfully limit the class of … |
| 22-6879 | Bobby O. Williams v. Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District | Illinois | 2023-02-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | aggravating-factors due-process fair-warning judicial-expansion jury-determination jury-findings retroactivity sentencing-review statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence | On Petitioner's second direct appeal, in resolving Petitioner's sufficiency of evidence claim regarding the existence of a single statutory aggravatin… |
| 22-6488 | John F. Mosley v. Florida | Florida | 2023-01-09 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing constitutional-rights due-process mitigating-circumstances mitigating-evidence reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona | IL The first question presented is whether excluding evidence of a history of sexual abuse in Mr. Mosley's family of origin was contrary to this Court… |
| 22-348 | Floyd Tayler v. Washington | Washington | 2022-10-13 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2) | aggravating-factors criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing domestic-violence jury-instruction jury-instructions pattern-aggravator reasonable-doubt statutory-interpretation unanimity | Must the jury, in deciding whether a defendant has committed the domestic violence pattern aggravator, RCW 9.94A.535 (3) (h) (i), be instructed that t… |
| 22-5088 | Norman Blake McKenzie v. Florida | Florida | 2022-07-13 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process fourteenth-amendment jury-trial reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment | Mr. McKenzie had a right to a jury finding for each fact that subjected him to the enhanced penalty of death. This proof was required to be "beyond a … |
| 21-8187 | Jesse Bell v. Florida | Florida | 2022-06-21 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing constitutional-standard due-process mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona standard-of-proof | Under Florida's capital sentencing scheme, in addition to finding at least one aggravating factor exists, the factfinder must make additional determin… |
| 21-8042 | Etheria Verdell Jackson v. Florida | Florida | 2022-06-02 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty hurst-v-florida jury-recommendation jury-trial sixth-amendment sixth-amendment-right | I. Whether a jury's advisory recommendation of death which does not identify the specific aggravators found, nor whether the aggravators were found un… |
| 21-7794 | Paul C. Bolin v. Ron Broomfield, Warden | Ninth Circuit | 2022-05-06 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-punishment habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance jury-discretion mitigation mitigation-evidence prejudice-analysis prejudice-standard strickland-standard strickland-v-washington | This capital case, in which defense counsel's investigation and preparation for the penalty phase was grossly deficient, presents two questions concer… |
| 21-6654 | Donald H. Davidson, Jr. v. Florida | Florida | 2021-12-17 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-punishment capital-sentencing due-process hurst-v-florida mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona sentencing-determination | Under the Due Process Clause, the determination of the existence of an element of a crime must be made beyond a reasonable doubt. See Apprendi v. New … |
| 21-6429 | Randall T. Deviney v. Florida | Florida | 2021-11-24 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing criminal-procedure due-process eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment functional-elements hurst-v-florida ring-v-arizona | I. The Due Process Clause requires the existence of an element of a crime to be determined beyond a reasonable doubt. See Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 … |
| 21-5755 | Kevin L. Frost v. Kansas | Kansas | 2021-09-22 | Denied | IFP | 14th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-rights due-process mitigating-factors sentencing sentencing-procedure | Petitioner contends that the sentencing court did not follow the proper statutory procedure with the improper weighing of mitigating and aggravating… |
| 21-5672 | Wayne C. Doty v. Florida | Florida | 2021-09-14 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing due-process jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona | Under the Due Process Clause and pursuant to the right to a trial by jury, the determination of the existence of an element of a crime must be made be… |
| 21-5280 | Robert Craft v. Florida | Florida | 2021-08-03 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process hurst-v-florida reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona | Under the Due Process Clause, the determination of the existence of an element of a crime must be made beyond a reasonable doubt. See Apprendi v. New … |
| 20-7988 | Robert Allen Poyson v. Arizona | Arizona | 2021-05-11 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-sentencing causal-nexus constitutional-review death-penalty eighth-amendment individualized-sentencing mitigation-evidence non-statutory-mitigation | 1. Is the individualized capital sentencing requirement guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment violated when a State—whether by statute or court- imposed … |
| 20-7732 | Tina LaSonya Brown v. Florida | Florida | 2021-04-13 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors appellate-review capital-sentencing constitutional-procedure death-penalty due-process ex-post-facto jury-finding jury-findings sixth-amendment | ONE: Petitioner Tina Brown sought state postconviction relief from a 2012 death sentence imposed under the procedure subsequently held unconstitutiona… |
| 20-7592 | Alan Eugene Miller v. Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-03-29 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factor aggravating-factors caldwell-v-mississippi capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment jury-instructions jury-verdict sixth-amendment | After petitioner Alan Miller was convicted of murder, the trial judge instructed the jurors that their penalty-phase verdict was merely an advisory re… |
| 20-7057 | Romario Waller v. Arkansas | Arkansas | 2021-02-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors amendment-violation constitutional-rights due-process judicial-discretion mandatory-sentencing plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-enhancement | 1. Did the Trial Judge in case no 1995-CR-545 violate Petitioner 's 5th, 6th, 14th , Amendment rights when he sentenced Petitioner to a more than 20%… |
| 20-1062 | Chad Bennett v. Washington | Washington | 2021-02-04 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) | 14th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-challenge due-process fourteenth-amendment jury-finding jury-findings sentencing-guidelines vagueness | In a state with mandatory sentencing guidelines, where a judge may not sentence a defendant above the guidelines range unless the jury finds an aggrav… |
| 20-6988 | Antwone Lamont Creater v. Illinois | Illinois | 2021-01-28 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors appellate-review criminal-sentencing due-process equal-protection judicial-discretion mitigating-factors sentencing-guidelines | This case presents an excellent vehicle for this Court to resolve a growing conflict in the Illinois Appellate Courts: Whether the seriousness of the … |
| 20-6303 | Lamar Whatley v. Illinois | Illinois | 2020-11-13 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-challenge de-novo eighth-amendment ineffective-assistance judicial-discretion mitigating-factors sentencing sentencing-discretion separation-of-powers sixth-amendment | 1, The seperation of powers clause,as legislature has power to fix sentences.for mr.whatley crime and limit the scope of the judicial decsrition to im… |
| 20-6060 | Benjamin Davis Smiley, Jr. v. Florida | Florida | 2020-10-19 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment equal-protection fourteenth-amendment jury-determination mitigating-circumstances sentencing | 1. Does the decision of the Florida Supreme Court in Smiley v. State , 295 So.3d 156 (2020), violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual pun… |
| 19-8681 | Sung Hong, et ux. v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-06-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | affinity-fraud aggravating-factors civil-rights constitutional-law due-process establishment-clause free-exercise holguin-hernandez-v-united-states plain-error-review religious-sentencing sentencing sentencing-guidelines | 1. Is it permissible for courts to consider religion as an aggravating factor in determining sentences, or to favor a religion by sentencing defendant… |
| 19-8660 | Thomas Michael Riley v. Arizona | Arizona | 2020-06-10 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-punishment capital-sentencing constitutional-review death-penalty furman-v-georgia gregg-v-georgia narrowing-requirement sentencing-scheme | "To pass constitutional muster, a capital sentencing scheme must genuinely narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty and must reasona… |
| 19-8473 | Shawn Rogers v. Florida | Florida | 2020-05-15 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors apprendi capital-sentencing due-process mitigating-circumstances ring-v-arizona | Under the Due Process Clause, determinations as to both elements and their "functional equivalents" must be made beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g.,… |
| 19-8438 | Rodney Lyn Emil v. Nevada | Nevada | 2020-05-12 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors burden-of-proof capital-sentencing constitutional-procedure death-penalty jury-finding jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt | Nevada courts instruct juries that they may consider imposing a death sentence only after finding at least one statutory aggravating factor beyond a r… |
| 19-8239 | Robert Ybarra, Jr. v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. | Nevada | 2020-04-10 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing sentencing-procedure | Under Nevada law, a jury may consider imposing a death sentence only after finding at least one statutory aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt… |
| 19-8192 | John Bejarano v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. | Nevada | 2020-04-06 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors appellate-reweighing apprendi clemons-v-mississippi constitutional-rights death-penalty jury-trial reweighing sixth-amendment | 1. Should this Court overrule Clemons v. Mississippi as inconsistent with Apprendi and its progeny, to the extent that it allows an appellate court to… |
| 19-8175 | Kitrich A. Powell v. Nevada | Nevada | 2020-04-03 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors burden-of-proof capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment | Did the Nevada Supreme Court violate Mr. Powell's constitutional rights by making the outweighing requirement an afterthought for the jury, used only … |
| 19-8090 | Joseph Weldon Smith v. Nevada | Nevada | 2020-03-24 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment | Did the Nevada Supreme Court violate Mr. Smith's constitutional rights by making the outweighing requirement an afterthought for the jury, used only t… |
| 19-7647 | William P. Castillo v. Nevada | Nevada | 2020-02-12 | Denied | Amici (1)IFP | aggravating-factors appellate-review apprendi apprendi-line capital-punishment capital-sentencing clemons-v-mississippi death-penalty jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances mitigating-evidence mitigation-evidence reweighing | Nevada courts instruct juries that they may consider imposing a death sentence only after finding at least one statutory aggravating factor beyond a r… |
| 19-697 | James Dwight Pavatt v. Tommy Sharp, Interim Warden | Tenth Circuit | 2019-12-03 | Denied | Amici (2) | aggravating-factor aggravating-factors arbitrary-application capital-punishment capital-punishment-sentencing capital-sentence cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus procedural-bar procedural-ruling | A divided panel of the Tenth Circuit, sitting en banc, vacated a panel opinion that reversed a capital sentence on the ground that the sentence rested… |
| 19-5933 | Julian Alejandro Mendez v. California | California | 2019-09-13 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors constitutional-amendments criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment trier-of-fact | Whether the California death penalty scheme violates the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments by permitting the trier of fact to impose a sentence o… |
| 18-9767 | LaShawn Johnson v. Randy L. White, Warden | Sixth Circuit | 2019-06-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process indictment jury-instruction jury-instructions | 1.) Does submitting aggravating factors of a crime in a jury instruction that wasn't charged in the indictment violate Due Process of a law according … |
| 18-9464 | Charles William Finney v. Florida | Florida | 2019-05-29 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-murder capital-sentencing death-penalty florida-constitution jury-trial jury-unanimity mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment | Whether the Sixth Amendment requires that a jury unanimously find all facts necessary to impose a death sentence in Florida, and whether Florida's cap… |
| 18-6884 | Isaiah Glenndell Tryon v. Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 2018-11-30 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors appellate-review criminal-procedure death-penalty hurst-v-florida jury-trial mitigating-circumstances ring-v-arizona sixth-amendment | After invalidating one of four (4) aggravating factors found by the jury, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals reweighed the remaining aggravating c… |
| 18-5937 | Charles Lee Burton v. Alabama | Alabama | 2018-09-11 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors caldwell-v-mississippi capital-sentencing capital-sentencing-scheme constitutional-review death-penalty eighth-amendment evolving-standards-of-decency hurst-v-florida jury-instructions jury-recommendation mitigating-factors | 1. Under Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Caldwell v. Mississippi , 472 U.S. 320 (1985), is Alabama's capital sentencing scheme constituti… |
| 18-5375 | Christopher Henriquez v. California | California | 2018-07-27 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors burden-of-proof capital-punishment constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process equal-protection jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt | Whether the California death penalty scheme violates the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments by permitting the trier of fact to impose a sentence o… |
| 18-5174 | Michael Allen Griffin v. Florida | Florida | 2018-07-09 | Denied | IFP | aggravating-factors capital-murder civil-procedure civil-rights due-process ex-post-facto jury-unanimity patent retroactivity standing takings | 1. Given the elements of capital murder identified by the Florida Supreme Court in Hurst v. State are being applied in a prosecution for a 1981 homici… |