Summary
United States Supreme decision utilizing CJLF arguments to reinstate the murder conviction of an abusive husband who gunned down his estranged wife's fiancé in front of several witnesses. In 2005, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned the murderer's sentence, ruling that it was unconstitutional for members of the victim's family to wear buttons with the deceased's picture on it during the trial. Prior to Mathew Musladin's trial, the judge refused Musladin's request to prevent Studer's family from wearing the photo buttons. Following his conviction, Musladin appealed, claiming that the buttons prejudiced the jury against him. The Court of Appeal denied the claim, as did the federal District Court on habeas corpus. But a divided panel of the federal Ninth Circuit reversed the lower court's decision and announced that the buttons violated Musladin's constitutional rights. When the Supreme Court agreed to hear the state's appeal, CJLF joined the case to point out that, once again, the Ninth Circuit's ruling sidestepped Congressional limits on its authority in order to overturn a reasonable state court decision. [CJLF brief in PDF.]
