Whether the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments permit the imposition of a death sentence based on vague and overly broad continuing threat testimony that may unconstitutionally restrict a defendant's sentencing hearing

No question identified. : sentence for one count of Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Methamphetamine (63 O.5. 2011, § 2-402). See Exhibit A. A petition for rehearing was denied by the same court on October 20, 2023. See Exhibit B. This represented a final judgment in the case, and, therefore, a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is presently due in this Court on or before January 18, 2024. This application is submitted at least 10 days prior to the present due date for the Petition for Writ of Certiorari. This Court’s jurisdiction arises pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1257(a). Petitioner has been convicted of a capital offense and sentenced to death in violation of certain rights and protections afforded him under the United States Constitution. This case presents a number of federal constitutional issues, including but not limited to whether Petitioner's right to a fair sentencing hearing, as guaranteed by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, was violated by the presentation of vague and overly broad continuing threat testimony and overly broad statutory language regarding the continuing threat aggravating circumstance. Petitioner deserves a fair opportunity to address this issue, and perhaps others, in a Petition for Writ of Certiorari. Counsel of record in this case, Jacqueline Chafin Sullivan, is an attorney with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS), formerly assigned to the Homicide Direct Appeals Division and currently assigned to the Appellate West Division. Counsel of record has represented Petitioner throughout the direct appeal. Counsel of record was initially the second chair, but due to the initial first chair counsel moving 2 to the Federal Public Defender’s Office, counsel of record is currently lead and only counsel for Petitioner. Currently, counsel of record represents two clients under a sentence of death, as well as four non-capital clients. During the time between October 20, 2023, the time the OCCA denied Petitioner's Petition for Rehearing, and the present, counsel has spent considerable time preparing briefs and managing other cases, some with deadlines prior to Petitioner's, and performing necessary editing and proofreading duties for co-workers. Further, due to a diagnosis of preeclampsia, counsel of record was recently induced and gave birth three weeks earlier than expected on December 1. 2024, and is currently taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to recover from delivery and taking care of her newborn. As a result of these duties toward other clients with pressing deadlines as well as taking necessary maternity leave to give birth and care for her newborn, counsel for Petitioner has been unable to devote the necessary time to properly and fully prepare and edit the Petition for Writ of Certiorari. Due to these factors and others, counsel is unable to prepare an adequate Petition for Writ of Certiorari prior to January 18, 2024. Because of these compelling circumstances, Petitioner respectfully requests an additional 60 days to file his Petition for Writ of Certiorari as allowed by Supreme Court Rule 13(5). Petitioner asks that an order be issued establishing the due date for Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari as March 18, 2024. Respectfully submitted, Coungel of Record United States Supreme Court No. 319856 Oklahoma Bar No. 33858 Appellate Defense Counsel Appellate Division West Oklahoma Indigent Defense System 111 N. Peters Avenue Suite 100 Norman, Oklahoma 73069 Telephone: (405) 801-2727 Fax: (405) 801-2758 E-mail: ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER BYRON JAMES SHEPARD Shepard v. State, --P.3d ---(2023) 2023 OK CR 15 2023 WL 6159610 Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Byron James SHEPARD, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellec Case No. D-2020-8 | Filed September 21, 2023 Synopsis Background: Defendant was convicted in the District Court, Pottawatomie County, John G. Canavan, J., of murder in the first degree, knowingly c