penalty-phase

22 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
24-6841 Micah Brown v. Eric Guerrero, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2025-03-25 Dismissed IFP capital-punishment defendant-rights fifth-amendment jury-instructions penalty-phase prosecutorial-misconduct Whether reasonable jurists would disagree that a prosecutor violates a capital defendant's Fifth-Amendment right not to testify at the penalty phase b…
24A785 Jeffery Day Rieber v. John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections Eleventh Circuit 2025-02-14 Denied capital-punishment habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mens-rea penalty-phase sixth-amendment Question not identified.
24A283 Joseph William Hart v. Chance Andes, Acting Warden Ninth Circuit 2024-09-20 Presumed Complete brady-evidence capital-case habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance penalty-phase prosecutorial-misconduct Question not identified.
23A864 Manuel Sepulveda v. Laurel Harry, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al. Third Circuit 2024-03-27 Presumed Complete capital-case death-penalty habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance penalty-phase post-conviction Question not identified.
23A796 Leslie Galloway, III v. Mississippi Mississippi 2024-02-28 Presumed Complete capital-punishment constitutional-rights ineffective-assistance mitigation-investigation penalty-phase sixth-amendment Question not identified.
23-5964 William Glenn Rogers v. Zac Pounds, Warden Sixth Circuit 2023-11-06 Denied IFP 28-usc-2254 constitutional-review criminal-procedure habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel penalty-phase prejudice-standard prejudice-test strickland-standard strickland-v-washington 1. Is application of a prejudice standard that requires a habeas petitioner to "eliminate or completely discredit" the prosecution's trial evidence in…
23A233 Jerry Smith v. Alabama Alabama 2023-09-12 Presumed Complete appellate-review capital-punishment constitutional-review death-penalty habeas-corpus penalty-phase Question not identified.
22-5487 Gabriel Paul Hall v. Texas Texas 2022-09-01 Denied IFP capital-murder criminal-procedure evidence-admission massiah-v-united-states penalty-phase right-to-counsel sixth-amendment state-action state-agent Did the TCCA err in holding that the State upheld its "affirmative obligation to not act in a manner that circumvents the [Sixth Amendment] protection…
22-5109 Teddy Brian Sanchez v. Ronald Broomfield, Warden Ninth Circuit 2022-07-15 Denied IFP attorney-error brain-dysfunction capital-sentencing capital-trial circuit-split cumulative-error ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ninth-circuit penalty-phase prejudice-standard 1. Did the Ninth Circuit err when it found that Petitioner's "organic" brain dysfunction was not enough of a red flag to trigger a duty for trial coun…
21-6954 Robert Jurado v. Ronald Davis, Warden Ninth Circuit 2022-01-25 Denied IFP 14th-amendment 8th-amendment capital-punishment confession-evidence constitutional-amendments double-jeopardy mitigating-evidence ninth-circuit-review penalty-phase plea-bargaining skipper-standard 1. Did the Ninth Circuit err in concluding that the California Supreme Court did not unreasonably apply federal law or unreasonably determine facts in…
21-6307 Donald James Smith v. Florida Florida 2021-11-17 Denied IFP capital-case capital-punishment criminal-procedure due-process eighth-amendment fair-trial penalty-phase prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-amendment victim-impact Was petitioner's right to a fair "penalty phase" trial violated when the prosecutor told the jurors, during closing arguments in the guilt phase, that…
20-1742 Akil Jahi, aka Preston Carter v. Tennessee Tennessee 2021-06-15 Denied capital-punishment capital-trial counsel-limitations criminal-defense defendant-autonomy ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mccoy-v-louisiana penalty-phase sixth-amendment trial-procedure 1. Does the Sixth Amendment holding of McCoy v. Louisiana, 138 S. Ct. 1500 (2018) apply to a penalty phase capital trial to protect a defendant's auto…
20-7615 Duane Eugene Owen v. Florida Florida 2021-03-31 Denied IFP capital-case constitutional-claims criminal-procedure death-penalty equal-protection florida-supreme-court fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus penalty-phase procedural-history retroactivity supreme-court-review Whether Petitioner was denied equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution when the Florida Supreme Court decline…
20-7536 Timothy L. Coleman v. Margaret Bradshaw, Warden Sixth Circuit 2021-03-23 Denied IFP brady-violation capital-habeas capital-punishment confessed-murderer due-process eighth-amendment habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel penalty-phase right-to-appeal right-to-due-process 1. Does a federal appellate court violate a capital habeas petitioner's rights to a meaningful appeal and habeas review of a federal constitutional cl…
20-7065 Anibal Canales, Jr. v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2021-02-05 Denied Amici (2)Relisted (13)IFP capital-habeas capital-punishment habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-evidence penalty-phase prejudice sixth-amendment Wiggins-v-Smith 1. For penalty phase ineffective assistance of counsel violations, has Richter "established a substantial likelihood standard for evaluating prejudice…
20-6294 Richard L. Sealey v. Benjamin Ford, Warden Eleventh Circuit 2020-11-12 Denied IFP capital-trial continuance continuance-motion due-process ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-evidence penalty-phase prejudice trial-court-discretion At the penalty phase of Mr. Sealey's capital trial, the State ended its case in aggravation earlier than expected. The defense made a motion for a bri…
20-443 United States v. Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev First Circuit 2020-10-06 Judgment Issued Amici (10)Relisted (7) capital-sentences district-court penalty-phase pretrial-media-coverage reversible-error voir-dire 1. Whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that respondent's capital sentences must be vacated on the ground that the district court, during …
19-7501 Steven Livaditis v. Ron Davis, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-02-03 Denied IFP 28-usc-2254 abusive-conduct constitutional-claim federal-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mental-illness mental-impairments mitigating-evidence penalty-phase reasonable-probability (1) Was the state court's summary denial of Petitioner's claims, alleging defense counsel's failure to present any penalty phase evidence of (i) Petit…
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…
18-7693 Dustin Dressner v. Louisiana Louisiana 2019-01-31 Denied IFP brain-damage ineffective-assistance-of-counsel organic-brain-damage penalty-phase prejudice-standard sears-v-upton sixth-amendment strickland-standard strickland-v-washington Whether it violates the Sixth Amendment and this Court's precedent in Strickland v. Washington 466 U.S. 668, 104 S. Ct 2052 (1984) and Sears v. Upton,…
18-6582 Kareem Glass v. Melissa Hainsworth, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Somerset Third Circuit 2018-11-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-rights capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-circumstances penalty-phase sixth-amendment waiver waiver-of-rights WHERE CAPITAL COUNSEL INDUCED PETITIONER INTO A WAIVER OF HIS ENTIRE PENALTY PHASE AND A WAIVER OF HIS APPELLATE RIGHTS IN RETURN FOR A GUARANTEED LIF…
18-5660 Todd Jesse Garton v. California California 2018-08-20 Denied IFP 5th-amendment civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-procedure criminal-trial defendant-attire due-process guilt-determination meaningful-defense penalty-phase presumption-of-innocence right-to-fair-trial right-to-present-defense right-to-reliable-verdict right-to-wear-civilian-attire Whether refus ing to permit an in-cus tody def endant ch arged with murder ing his wife and unborn child to wear his wedding ring during trial vio lat…