Summary
Federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case to review a lower court decision that overturned Carman Deck's death sentence and directed that he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In June 1996, Deck robbed and murdered an elderly couple, Jim and Zelma Long, in their home. Deck was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in June 1998. His sentence was subsequently reversed and remanded for a new penalty phase trial. In April 2003, Deck was again sentenced to death by a new jury. The U. S. Supreme Court again reversed the death sentence finding that Deck's visible shackling in the presence of the second jury denied him a fair trial. A third penalty phase trial was held in September 2008. A jury again sentenced Deck to death for the two murders. The judgment was affirmed and state post-conviction relief was denied. Deck then filed a petition for habeas corpus relief in federal district court. Deck argued that the delay between his conviction in 1998 and his third penalty phase trial in 2008 violated his constitutional rights and that his attorneys were ineffective for not raising this unconstitutional delay argument. The U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri agreed with Deck, finding that his third penalty phase trial was fundamentally unfair because of delay not attributable to him and that counsel's failure to pursue the unconstitutional delay claim in the state courts was ineffective. CJLF joined the case on behalf of the murder victims' family members, arguing that the delay between Deck's conviction and final sentencing did not violate his constitutional rights. Deck was found guilty of murder over 20 years ago. He has since then pursued every avenue of relief available to him by the state and federal governments. This was not due to attorney error or government delay. Furthermore, Deck's claims were procedurally defaulted in state court and it was error for the District Court to address the claims and grant relief. The Court of Appeals agreed, reversed the District Court's holding, and reinstated Deck's death sentence.
