Summary
The United States Supreme Court reversed a 2006 Ninth Circuit ruling and reinstated the death sentence of a man who brutally murdered an acquaintance in Arizona, after escaping from an Oklahoma prison where he was serving time for an earlier murder. At his sentencing hearing, Jeffrey Landrigan announced in open court that he would not allow his attorney to present evidence mitigating his responsibility for the murder. Over a span of 15 years, three courts and a panel of the Ninth Circuit rejected the claim that his death sentence was unconstitutional because his attorney failed to present the evidence. However, a larger panel of the Ninth Circuit accepted it. Before the Supreme Court, CJLF argued that this violates an Act of Congress which forbids setting aside the facts found by the state courts unless the finality is unreasonable. The Supreme Court agreed in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas. [CJLF brief in PDF.]
