first-degree-murder

65 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…
25-5458 Andrew Jackson McCauley, Jr. v. West Virginia West Virginia 2025-08-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP change-of-venue child-abuse first-degree-murder human-remains k-9-testimony motion-for-directed-verdict Question I). Did the trial court commit reversible error by denying Petitioner's Motion for Change of Venue? Question II). Did the trial court commit…
24-6584 Colton Bagola v. United States Eighth Circuit 2025-02-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split crime-of-violence federal-law first-degree-murder force-clause statutory-interpretation 1. Whether first-degree murder, under 18 U.S.C. § 1, qualifies as a "crime of violence" under the force clause in 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A).
24-6279 Dickens Etienne v. Michelle Edmark, Warden First Circuit 2025-01-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP brady-disclosure exculpatory-evidence first-degree-murder habeas-corpus prosecutorial-misconduct self-defense Where there was suppressed exculpatory evidence, in the form of a proffer letter demonstrating that a key prosecution witness who provided significant…
24-6003 Sydni Frazier v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-11-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-defendant first-degree-murder jury-trial predicate-offense sixth-amendment unanimous-verdict Whether a criminal defendant's right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment is violated when the trial judge does not instruct the jury that it mus…
24-5294 Tommy J. May v. Kansas Kansas 2024-08-09 Denied IFP criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder jury-instruction lesser-included-offense voluntary-manslaughter Whether Tommy T. May was entitled to a jury instruction on the lesser offense of attempted voluntary manslaughter on the attempted first-degree murder…
24-5139 Lamar McKay v. Jeff Tanner, Warden Sixth Circuit 2024-07-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights directed-verdict due-process first-degree-murder insufficient-evidence jury-verdict murder premeditation reasonable-doubt I. WHERE THE TRIAL COURT DENIED PETITIONER, LAMAR LORENZO MCKAYS MOTION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT ON FIRST DEGREE MURDER WHERE THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED WAS…
23A1165 Harry Franklin Phillips v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections Eleventh Circuit 2024-06-27 Presumed Complete circuit-court death-sentence federal-review first-degree-murder habeas-corpus post-conviction-relief Question not identified.
23A1164 Charles Grover Brant v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2024-06-27 Presumed Complete certificate-of-appealability death-penalty eleventh-circuit first-degree-murder habeas-corpus post-conviction Question not identified.
23-7727 Everett G. Miller v. Florida Florida 2024-06-14 Denied IFP aggravating-factor constitutional-challenge constitutional-law cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty due-process first-degree-murder florida-supreme-court sentencing-statute Whether the Florida Supreme Court's expansion of the applicability of our statute's aggravating factor, Section 921.141(5)(i), i.e., the murder was co…
23-7632 Cordero Passley v. United States Second Circuit 2024-06-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law criminal-statute deliberate-intent deliberation first-degree-murder malicious-conduct mens-rea premeditation second-degree-murder willful-killing Whether, for a defendant to commit a "willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing" that constitutes first degree murder (as opposed to se…
23-7343 Dalevonte D. Hearn v. Illinois Illinois 2024-04-30 Denied IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-trial mistrial sentencing trial-rights ^j) T$ Xv LaM^L.I Thai An American OH'Zen &f Puntsbpcf Tor £* WS>^ f2ic^h To A Turq . (Jkj IsrH 6nf /M one Cr^e you \SheU 'Jour AcHonS rn^j l4oi*f I…
23-6599 Devon Blevins v. United States Tenth Circuit 2024-01-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-1 appellate-review criminal-conviction criminal-procedure first-degree-murder insufficiency-of-evidence jackson-v-virginia standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the court of appeals failed to correctly apply the standard of review for claims of insufficiency of evidence to support conviction of a crime…
23-6415 Christian Cruz v. Florida Florida 2024-01-05 Denied IFP capital-case capital-punishment criminal-procedure death-penalty due-process equal-protection first-degree-murder pulley-v-harris relative-culpability sentencing supreme-court-review WHETHER THE AFFIRMANCE BY THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA OF DEFENDANT'S CONVICTION FOR FIRST DEGREE MURDER AND SENTENCE OF DEATH WAS CLEARL…
23-6000 Tyler Catlin Borg v. California California 2023-11-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-due-process criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder intent jury-instructions lying-in-wait murder-intent 1. Can a person be guilty of 1st degree murder without intent to kill or injure? 2. Does CALCRIM 521 unconstitutionally omit the intent element of fi…
23-5994 James Jordan McClain v. Tammy Campbell, Warden Ninth Circuit 2023-11-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP brady-violation equitable-tolling first-degree-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance prosecutorial-misconduct second-degree-murder self-defense voluntary-manslaughter 1. In assessing whether extraordinary circumstances stood in a petitioner's path for equitable-tolling purposes, do those circumstances need to make e…
22-7124 Ricky Lee Scott v. Dexter Payne, Director, Arkansas Division of Correction Arkansas 2023-03-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-violation due-process first-degree-murder jury-instructions life-imprisonment state-procedural-default trial-error waiver WHETHER PETITIONER SCOTT'S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS OF LAW WAS VIOLATED WHEN HE WAS CONVICTED IN A JURY TRIAL OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER AND SENTENCED TO LIFE…
22-7012 Lionel Jericho McCoy v. California California 2023-03-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP charging-document common-law common-law-pleading criminal-charging due-process first-degree-murder notice notice-requirements sentencing-enhancement sixth-amendment Does the 1883 rule set forth in People v. Soto, 63 Cal. 165 (1883) — that facts which expose a defendant to increased punishment need not be charged i…
22-6418 Christopher Brian Cosimano v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-12-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeals crime-of-violence criminal-law due-process eleventh-circuit federal-criminal-law federal-sentencing first-degree-murder omission-liability statutory-interpretation violent-crime Whether the Eleventh Circuit erred by finding that Florida's First-Degree Premeditated Murder Statute is categorically a crime of violence for purpose…
22-6288 Mangwiro Sadiki-Yisrael v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-12-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP base-offense-level first-degree-murder guilty-plea mens-rea rehaif-v-united-states rico-conspiracy sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation statutory-max Whether in a RICO conspiracy case the government is required to prove a defendant's mens rea and knowledge of first-degree murder to establish the sta…
22-6132 Michael Dominick Mencher v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-11-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment categorical-approach crime-of-violence criminal-law due-process federal-criminal-law federal-sentencing first-degree-murder sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation violent-crime Whether Florida's First-Degree Premeditated Murder Statute is categorically a crime of violence for purposes of 18 U.S.C.§ 924(C)?
22-6061 Kyle Watkins v. Sean Medeiros, Superintendent, Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk First Circuit 2022-11-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP brady-v-maryland brady-violation constitutional-rights cumulative-effect due-process first-degree-murder habeas habeas-corpus law-enforcement law-enforcement-practices prejudice prosecutorial-misconduct In a habeas case involving a first degree murder conviction, whether a Court can construe Brady's prejudice prong so strictly that it becomes, in effe…
22-5982 Richard Allen Jackson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-11-03 Denied IFP categorical-approach crime-of-violence criminal-law divisibility divisibility-analysis federal-statutes felony-murder first-degree-murder schad-v-arizona statutory-interpretation violent-crime 1. Is federal first-degree murder, 18 U.S.C. § 1(a), which includes felony murder, a crime of violence within the meaning of the force clause of 18 U.…
22-5867 Monica McCarrick v. Janelle Espinoza, Warden Ninth Circuit 2022-10-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence first-degree-murder meaningful-defense mental-health paranoid-delusions premeditation trial-court-evidence 1. Does an objectively unreasonable violation of the Constitutional right to present a meaningful defense occur when a trial court prevents a defendan…
21-7647 Lloyd Brice v. California California 2022-04-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP conflict-of-interest due-process fair-trial first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel motion-for-new-trial right-to-counsel right-to-fair-trial 1. Did the Supreme Court err in failing to rule that the denial of the Motion for New Trial due to trial counsel's conflict of interest violated Petit…
21-7630 Mickey Roy Anderson, Sr. v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-04-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-split criminal-law deliberation first-degree-murder mens-rea premeditation I. Whether this Court should resolve the split in the courts of appeal as to whether a mere matter of seconds suffice as premeditation for first degre…
21-7297 Jaime B. Garcia v. Warren L. Montgomery, Warden Ninth Circuit 2022-03-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder habeas-corpus jury-instructions legal-theory prosecutorial-concession reasonable-jurists standard-of-review Because the appellate court must issue a certificate of appealability ("COA") when the issue is debatable among jurists of reason, should the Ninth Ci…
21-6851 Joel Quiles v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2022-01-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP acquittal constitutional-rights criminal-conviction double-jeopardy due-process felony-murder fifth-amendment first-degree-murder trial-procedure Where the trial judge (1) stated that the defendant is "not guilty of felony murder;" (2) told the jury that their answers to special questions on the…
21-6367 Dacoby Reshard Wooten v. Florida Florida 2021-11-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP alternative-theories criminal-procedure felony-murder first-degree-murder jury-unanimity premeditated-murder sixth-amendment Whether the Sixth Amendment requires jury unanimity as to whether a defendant committed premeditated murder or felony murder when the state proceeds o…
21-653 Harold Lee Harvey, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2021-11-03 Denied Relisted (2) autonomy-right counsel-override criminal-defense criminal-procedure defendant-autonomy due-process first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mccoy-v-louisiana sixth-amendment Is the Sixth Amendment autonomy right established in McCoy violated where counsel overrode an express agreement with the defendant to not concede guil…
21-5371 James Roland Henderson v. California California 2021-08-13 Denied IFP criminal-intent criminal-procedure evidence-exclusion familial-violence first-degree-murder homicide imperfect-self-defense jury-instructions parental-relationship religious-beliefs self-defense special-circumstances Question not identified.
21-5166 Leobardo Valladares v. Craig Koenig, Warden Ninth Circuit 2021-07-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure cumulative-error due-process evidentiary-hearing first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance jury-instructions reasonable-doubt standard-of-proof sufficiency-of-evidence I. Did the Prosecution Fail to Prove Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Valladares Committed First Degree Murder? II. Did Trial Counsel Render Ineffectiv…
20-8251 Jayrionte Thomas v. West Virginia West Virginia 2021-06-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-appeal criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance legal-procedure right-to-counsel sixth-amendment west-virginia-law Whether the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals erred in declining to hold, on direct criminal appeal, that the Petitioner received ineffective ass…
20-8220 Patrick Alan Vercruysse v. Bryan Morrison, Warden Sixth Circuit 2021-06-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP 14th-amendment constitutional-rights due-process evidence-insufficiency first-degree-murder fourteenth-amendment police-testimony strangulation sufficiency-of-evidence suffocation SHOULD PETITIONER'S CONVICTION BE VACATED DUE TO INSUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE THAT HE CAUSED THE DEATH OF DOCTOR THOMPSON BY STRANGULATION OR SUFFI…
20-8048 James Terry Colley, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2021-05-17 Denied IFP 14th-amendment 8th-amendment aggravating-factor constitutional-challenge cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty due-process first-degree-murder florida-supreme-court sentencing-scheme Whether the Florida Supreme Court's expansion of the applicability of our statute's aggravating factor, Section 921.141(5)(i), i.e., the murder was es…
20-1498 Kory Alexander v. Alex Jones, Acting Warden Seventh Circuit 2021-04-27 Denied Response Waived alleyne-precedent appellate-review criminal-elements criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process firearm-discharge first-degree-murder jury-instructions lesser-included-offense sentencing sentencing-factor Kory Alexander was charged by indictment with first degree murder with the specific allegation that he personally discharged a firearm during the comm…
20-1496 Ali Mohamed Elatrache v. Shane Jackson, Warden Sixth Circuit 2021-04-26 Denied Response Waived capital-murder constitutional-rights due-process first-degree-murder jury-instructions jury-trial lesser-included-offenses procedural-default trial-by-jury I. WHETHER REASONABLE JURISTS COULD DIFFER AS TO WHETHER PETITIONER WAS DEPRIVED OF A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS AND TO TRIAL BY JURY WHEN TH…
20-7715 In Re Richard DeCaro 2021-04-12 Dismissed Relisted (2)IFP double-jeopardy ex-post-facto federal-statute first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mandatory-life second-degree-murder sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment 1. Whether the Ex Post Facto Clause is violated where petitioner was sentenced to the amended statute, first degree murder, mandatory life, rather tha…
20-7700 Robert Ibarra v. W. L. Montgomery, Acting Warden Ninth Circuit 2021-04-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP co-defendant-statements co-perpetrator-statements confrontation-clause constitutional-rights criminal-procedure criminal-trial due-process evidence-exclusion first-degree-murder hearsay right-to-defense right-to-present-defense Does the exclusion of statements by a co-perpetrator that he was solely responsible for the charged murder and the defendant was innocent, including t…
20-7380 Michael Eugene Wyatt v. John Sutton, Warden Ninth Circuit 2021-03-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-elements deliberation first-degree-murder habeas-review ninth-circuit ninth-circuit-precedent precedent premeditation premeditation-and-deliberation state-law sufficiency-of-evidence Did the Ninth Circuit improperly disregard and/or overlook United State Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent that required it to defer to Califor…
20-7270 Keith D. Barmore v. Sonja Nicklaus, Warden Seventh Circuit 2021-02-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process fair-trial first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel involuntary-manslaughter jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct Whether Petitioner was deprived of his due-process of law, and a fair trial, where the trial court never orally read the jury instructions to the jury…
20-6096 Dieuseul Brown v. Sonja Nicklaus, Warden Seventh Circuit 2020-10-22 Denied IFP criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder independent-and-adequate-state-grounds jury-finding jury-instructions procedural-default second-degree-murder state-grounds Whether the Petitioner's claim is Procedurally Defaulted under the Independent and Adequate State grounds Doctrine. Whether the lower courts erred in …
20-5403 Dimarzio Swade Sanchez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-08-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP aiding-and-abetting criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions mandatory-life-imprisonment sixth-amendment The government convicted Dimarzio Swade Sanchez of aiding and abetting in first degree murder, and he was sentenced to a mandatory life imprisonment. …
20-5394 Eugene Mona, aka Gino v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-08-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP amendment-782 criminal-sentencing district-court drug-guidelines drug-sentencing-guidelines first-degree-murder motion-denial motion-for-sentence-reduction rico-conspiracy sentence-reduction Whether the District Court erred in denying Petitioner's Motion For Sentence Reduction pursuant to Amendment 782 to the Drug Sentencing Guidelines b…
20-5334 Dennis K. Kieren, Jr. v. Aaron D. Ford, Attorney General of Nevada Ninth Circuit 2020-08-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability constitutional-law constitutional-rule due-process first-degree-murder habeas-corpus retroactivity statutory-interpretation Whether the Ninth Circuit should have granted a Certificate of Appealability on the district court's denial of Kieren's motion to amend his petition w…
20-5217 David Kelsey Sparre v. Florida Florida 2020-07-30 Denied IFP adolescent-brain-development brain-development constitutional-rights first-degree-murder harmless-error ineffective-assistance-of-counsel juvenile-sentencing prejudice trial-strategy 1. Whether trial counsel's failure to investigate and execute the defense trial strategy, which would have significantly undermined the State's case f…
19-8771 Michael A. Risenhoover v. William Muniz, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-06-22 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 28-years-to-life criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder first-time-offender judicial-discretion murder prior-criminal-history proportionality public-message sentencing sentencing-guidelines 1) Does SENTENCING A FIRST TIME OFFENDER WITHOUT HAS NO PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY TO 28 YEARS TO LIFE SEND A DANGEROUS MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC AND FUTURE O…
19-8727 Felton Ladell Humphries, Jr. v. S. Sherman, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-06-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder jury-instruction self-defense voluntary-manslaughter DOES HUMPHRIES HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT GUARANTEED BY THE FIFTH, SIXTH, AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS TO A PROPERLY INSTRUCTED JURY DETERMINING THAT ALL E…
19-8304 Timothy J. McVay v. Illinois Illinois 2020-04-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP actus-reus burden-of-proof civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder mens-rea presumption-of-innocence Whether a bench trial conviction of first degree murder by H.U.M Matrix(Homicide by Unspecified Means) can be upheld without benefit of: an eyewitness…
19-7973 Quincy Chisolm v. Maryland Maryland 2020-03-12 Denied IFP appeal civil-rights conspiracy conviction criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder judicial-discretion mitigating-circumstances murder sentencing trial-court-error in s4/'6'cx-f -fAc_ -fhoAaf £&n 5p*ro-ci>j -fo nouirMr ^ 6>/n/nf4- murder ir\ */Ae fiirs^ deyrc-e, ' cm^Un -b •lUyJ WWe./* -/-Ac- dnio.1 ^oo>rt err //…
19-7879 Luis D. Rivera-Carrasquillo, et al. v. United States First Circuit 2020-03-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-1959 18-usc-924 categorical-approach crime-of-violence first-degree-murder penal-code plain-error puerto-rico-penal-code racketeering sentencing-enhancement violent-crimes-in-aid-of-racketeering 1. Is first degree murder, as broadly and idiosyncratically defined under the 2004 Puerto Rico Penal Code: (a) included in the category of "murder" as…
19-7835 Miguel Rodriguez v. United States Seventh Circuit 2020-03-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP actual-innocence aedpa aedpa-authorization constitutional-law constitutional-suspension due-process first-degree-murder habeas-corpus preponderance-of-evidence preponderance-of-the-evidence sentencing 1. Whether the Eleventh Circuit's decision in McCarthan v. Dir. Goodwill Indus. Suncoast-Inc , 851 F.3d 1076 (11th Cir. 2017), is in violation of the …
19-7167 Harshadkumar Nanjibhai Jadav v. Virginia Virginia 2020-01-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review circumstantial-evidence criminal-procedure evidence-sufficiency first-degree-murder identity-of-defendant identity-of-perpetrator jury-instructions possession-of-weapon premeditation sufficiency-of-evidence I. Contrary to precedent set in Yeager v. Commonwealth , 16 Va. 433 S.E.2d 248 (1993) and rule 3A:16 of the Rules of App. 761 Supreme Court of Virgini…
19-605 Arizona v. Philip John Martin Arizona 2019-11-12 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) appeal criminal-appeal double-jeopardy first-degree-murder greater-offense hung-jury hung-jury-rule jury-instructions jury-verdict lesser-offense richardson-v-united-states second-degree-murder In Green v. United States , the Court held that the Double Jeopardy Clause barred retrial of a greater offense when the jury's "verdict was silent" on…
19-6029 Frank Jeffs v. Michael Overmyer, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Forest, et al. Pennsylvania 2019-09-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder habeas-corpus jurisdiction premeditated-murder prosecutorial-misconduct self-defense sentencing sentencing-order 1. Is not the Pennsylvania Supreme Court required in its Per Curiam conclusions of law with respect thereto. If the court finds that...[2] the sentenc…
19-5301 Aaron Orlando Richards v. Louisiana Louisiana 2019-07-25 GVR Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3)IFP constitutional-interpretation criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process equal-protection first-degree-murder jury-trial jury-unanimity jury-verdict legislative-amendment non-unanimous-verdict prosecutorial-discretion unanimous-verdict Did the appellate court err in its interpretation of Apodaca Bad Bertrand? In this first degree murder prosecution, the jury returned an eleven-to-one…
18-9252 Kevin Foster v. Florida Florida 2019-05-15 Denied IFP capital-murder capital-punishment death-penalty death-sentence due-process eighth-amendment first-degree-murder jury-findings jury-unanimity reasonable-doubt unanimous-verdict 1. Whether Mr. Foster's death sentence is unconstitutional because it violates the Eighth Amendment and the Due Process Clause where the jury did not …
18-8371 Martin E. Grant v. Michigan Michigan 2019-03-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP 6th-amendment due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel equal-protection first-degree-murder life-imprisonment motion-for-relief-from-judgment plea-bargaining sixth-amendment Whether Petitioner has been denied the effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution, during the p…
18-8312 Dayomashell David Aguilar v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-03-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP aiding-and-abetting conspiracy criminal-procedure first-degree-murder jury-instructions mens-rea miscarriage-of-justice 1. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in denying a certificate of appealability on Aguilar's claim that the jury instructions relieved the State of the b…
18-7192 Lavell Phillips v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-12-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP armed-career-criminal-act attempted-first-degree-murder attempted-murder attempted-use-of-force criminal-statute elements-clause first-degree-murder physical-force procedural-background sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation violent-felony Under the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), a "violent felony" is defined as, inter alia, a felony that "has as an element the use, attempted use, o…
18-6956 Jason Dirk Walton v. Florida, et al. Florida 2018-12-07 Denied IFP capital-murder criminal-law due-process eighth-amendment first-degree-murder jury-unanimity resentencing retrospective-application retrospective-law sentencing-elements substantive-criminal-law 1. When changes in a state's substantive criminal set out the elements of capital murder which the prosecution must prove to the satisfaction of a una…
18-6805 Jose Rodriguez v. Daniel Paramo, Warden Ninth Circuit 2018-11-26 Denied IFP abuse-of-discretion constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process federal-question first-degree-murder ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel insufficient-evidence jury-instructions penal-code-187a principal reasonable-doubt Allege "INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE" is FEDERAL QUESTION, Petitioner Mr. JOSE RODRIGUEZ, is not the PRINCIPAL Jury Instructions for count one and two, P.C. …
18-6635 Eddie Hampton v. California California 2018-11-08 Denied IFP criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-error felony-murder first-degree-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions murder natural-and-probable-consequence natural-probable-consequence prejudice-standard premeditated-murder standard-of-prejudice Ft] he jury was rroneousiy insLrjted on (a) Murder as a ui :ural and p:5able consq:ience per pe0p.e VS enLu SY al 4 Lb 5 172 caL Rptr 3d 438 325 P .3d…
18-5865 Gary L. Pennington v. Michael Clark, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Albion, et al. Pennsylvania 2018-09-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP capital-offense constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder fourteenth-amendment state-law substantive-due-process WHETHER PETITIONER'S CONVICTION OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER VIOLATED THE CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED STATE-CREATED LIBERTY INTEREST GUARANTEED UNDER THE FOU…
18-192 J. B. R. v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-08-14 Denied age-of-criminal-responsibility constitutional-limits constitutional-punishment criminal-prosecution death-penalty due-process first-degree-murder juvenile-justice juvenile-offender juvenile-offenders life-imprisonment prosecutorial-discretion statutory-interpretation statutory-punishment Whether the Due Process Clause forbids the Government from prosecuting an individual who was a juvenile at the time of the crime under a statute that …