No. 19-8335

Mitchell Willoughby v. Deedra Hart, Warden

Lower Court: Sixth Circuit
Docketed: 2020-04-22
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: caldwell-precedent capital-sentencing closing-argument death-penalty jury jury-instructions prosecutor prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-circuit state-law voir-dire
Key Terms:
Punishment
Latest Conference: 2020-06-25
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Did the Sixth Circuit panel misunderstand or frustrate the purpose behind this court's holding in Caldwell v. Mississippi

Question Presented (from Petition)

QUESTION PRESENTED “The uncorrected suggestion that the responsibility for any ultimate determination of death will rest with others presents an intolerable danger that the jury will in fact choose to minimize the importance of its role.” Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 333 (1985). Did the Sixth Circuit panel misunderstand or frustrate the purpose behind this court’s holding in Caldwell v. Mississippi of avoiding the imposition of the death penalty in an arbitrary manner when it held that Caldwell was not “so clearly established” such that the Kentucky Supreme Court unreasonably applied it to Petitioner’s claim where: 1. Under local law, each juror has the responsibility of deciding whether the defendant will be executed; 2. The prosecutor repeatedly and unequivocally suggested (and expressly stated) in voir dire and in closing argument, without correction, that the final responsibility for deciding the appropriate sentence would not rest with the jurors; 3. One of the jurors who voted to sentence Petitioner to death stated her uncorrected belief during voir dire that it was her responsibility to recommend but not fix the Petitioner’s sentence. i

Docket Entries

2020-06-29
Petition DENIED.
2020-06-10
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2020.
2020-05-22
Brief of respondent Deedra Hart in opposition filed.
2020-04-17
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due May 22, 2020)
2020-02-14
Application (19A893) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until April 17, 2020.
2020-02-07
Application (19A893) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 17, 2020 to April 17, 2020, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.

Attorneys

Deedra Hart
Matthew Robert KrygielKentucky Office of the Attorney General, Respondent
Matthew Robert KrygielKentucky Office of the Attorney General, Respondent
Mitchell Willoughby
Dennis James BurkeCommonwealth of Kentucky, Department of Public Adv, Petitioner
Dennis James BurkeCommonwealth of Kentucky, Department of Public Adv, Petitioner