No. 25A960

Billy Leon Kearse v. Florida

Lower Court: Florida
Docketed: 2026-02-28
Status: Denied
Type: A
Tags: atkins-v-virginia capital-postconviction eighth-amendment intellectual-disability jury-bias sixth-amendment
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (from Petition)

Question not identified.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a state procedural bar or diligence requirement can override the Eighth Amendment's categorical prohibition on executing intellectually disabled individuals established in Atkins v. Virginia, and whether a state appellate court's failure to conduct meaningful review of newly discovered evidence of intellectual disability and jury bias in capital cases violates the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments

Docket Entries

2026-03-03
Application (25A960) referred to the Court.
2026-03-03
Application (25A960) for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
2026-03-02
Response to application from respondent Florida filed.
2026-02-28
Application (25A960) for a stay of execution of sentence of death, submitted to Justice Thomas.

Attorneys

Billy Kearse
Suzanne Myers KefferCapital Collateral Regional Counsel - South, Petitioner
State of Florida
Scott Andrew BrowneOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent