No. 21-579

Kenneth Eugene Smith v. John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al.

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2021-10-20
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: accomplice-liability burden-of-proof capital-sentencing constitutional-rights due-process eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-instructions jury-trial sixth-amendment specific-intent
Key Terms:
AdministrativeLaw DueProcess HabeasCorpus Punishment CriminalProcedure Securities Jurisdiction
Latest Conference: 2022-02-18
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Under Waddington v. Sarausad, does a general jury instruction on accomplice liability relieve the State of its burden to prove specific intent beyond a reasonable doubt

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Under Waddington v. Sarausad, 555 U.S. 179 (2009), when a conviction requires that the State prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had a specific intent to commit a crime does a general jury instruction on accomplice liability relieve the State of that burden in violation of the defendant’s due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment? 2. Does a death sentence violate the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments when the trial judge overrides the jury’s general sentencing verdict for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole that does not specify whether the jury found at least one aggravating circumstance? 3. Does a death sentence violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment right to an individualized sentencing determination when the trial judge overrides a jury’s sentencing verdict for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole based on the same rationale the trial judge later offers to justify overriding the jury’s sentencing verdict in a different case involving a different defendant and different facts? 4. Did the Court of Appeals err in denying Petitioner a certificate of appealability on these issues?

Docket Entries

2022-02-22
Petition DENIED.
2022-01-19
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/18/2022.
2022-01-12
Reply of petitioner Kenneth Smith filed.
2021-12-30
Brief of respondent Commissioner, Ala. Dept of Corrections in opposition filed.
2021-12-16
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including January 3, 2022.
2021-12-14
Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 20, 2021 to January 3, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
2021-11-15
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 20, 2021.
2021-11-12
Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 19, 2021 to December 20, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
2021-10-18
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 19, 2021)

Attorneys

Commissioner, Ala. Dept of Corrections
Richard Dearman AndersonOffice of the Attorney General, State of Alabama, Respondent
Richard Dearman AndersonOffice of the Attorney General, State of Alabama, Respondent
Kenneth Smith
Robert M. GrassArnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Petitioner
Robert M. GrassArnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Petitioner