Michael Kiefer of the Arizona Republic has written a series of articles on prosecutorial misconduct in the state. This excellent four-part series can be found here:
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals once again granted relief in Steven James v. Ryan. The Court had previously found that Mr. James was denied constitutionally effective counsel at sentencing. After the James opinion, the Supreme Court decided Johnson v. Williams, which creates a rebuttable presumption that the state court adjudicated a claim on the merits. The Supreme Court remanded Mr. James’s case back to the Ninth Circuit to reconsider in light of Johnson.
Applying the presumption, the Ninth Circuit concluded, once again, that the state court had not adjudicated Mr. James’s claim on the merits, but had instead denied relief on procedural grounds.
The 9th Circuit has recently issued several opinions in capital cases.
In Detrich v. Ryan, the Court remanded to the district court for consideration of arguments raised pursuant to Martinez v. Ryan.
In Schurz v. Ryan and McKinney v. Ryan, the Court denied relief.
2013-09-03 Detrich Opinion 2013-09-16 McKinney Opinion 2013-09-12 Schurz Opinion
The Court affirmed the convictions and death sentence in State v. Payne this morning. The opinion is below.
This morning, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence in State v. Fitzgerald. The opinion is below.
Earlier this month, the Arizona Court of Appeals denied relief in a special action on an Atkins claim. Judge Eckerstrom writes a lengthy the dissent. The opinion, in State v. Williams, is below.
On April 15, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences in State v. Boyston. There is an interesting discussion of the intellectual disability claim (finding Mr. Boyston did not prove ID by preponderance of the evidence or clear and convincing evidence). Also a disturbing affirmance of the trial court’s strike of a death-scrupled juror.
In State v. Rose, the court upheld Mr. Rose’s death sentence despite “vengeful language” in the victim impact statements that came “dangerously close to…mandating a mistrial.”
The Arizona Supreme Court reduced a death sentence today in State v. Grell and imposed a sentence of natural life. The Court found Mr. Grell was intellectually disabled and, therefore, his execution is not permitted pursuant to Atkins v. Virginia.
The 9th Circuit issued its opinion in Lambright v. Ryan, finding the district court abused its discretion in modifying a protective order intended to protect privileged materials used in the litigation of the habeas claims. The opinion is below.
GRACE’s next Mitigation Skills Bootcamp will be September 17-19 in Houston. This is our in-house training on skills and mitigation protocols for staff which we hold about twice a year and have in recent years opened up to others as space allows. It is three days of intensive workshops for mitigators and capital counsel. Please contact Michael Espinoza at gro.walecargnull@leahciM if you are interested.
