aggravating-factors

45 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-5920 Donald Otis Williams v. Florida Florida 2025-10-21 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-challenge death-penalty first-degree-murder legislative-expansion proportionality-review Whether the Florida Legislature's expansion of the applicability of our statute's "aggravating factors" requirements, Section 921.141(6), Florida Stat…
25-5184 Matthew Lee Caylor v. Florida Florida 2025-07-24 Dismissed IFP aggravating-factors capital-sentencing constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-waiver I. Whether accepting a defendant's waiver of the right to a trial by jury and the jury's full consideration of mitigating evidence in a death penalty …
24-581 Utah v. Douglas A. Lovell Utah 2024-11-26 Denied Relisted (2) aggravating-factors criminal-sentencing death-penalty ineffective-assistance-counsel mitigation-evidence strickland-standard Did the Utah Supreme Court violate binding case law by improperly assessing Strickland deficient performance and prejudice in a death penalty case inv…
24A100 Brennaris Marquis Johnson v. Washington Washington 2024-07-29 Presumed Complete aggravating-factors criminal-sentencing judicial-discretion jury-trial sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment Whether a judge's finding of 'substantial and compelling reasons' to impose a sentence above the statutory presumptive range violates a defendant's Si…
23-7029 Byron James Shepard v. Oklahoma Oklahoma 2024-03-19 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstance aggravating-factors capital-punishment capital-sentencing criminal-procedure death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-discretion Does Oklahoma's continuing threat aggravating circumstance violate this Court's capital sentencing jurisprudence and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendme…
23-7024 Thomas Bevel v. Florida Florida 2024-03-19 Denied IFP aggravating-factors arbitrary-sentencing capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment proportionality-review reasonable-doubt Whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Eighth Amendment
23-6262 Raymond Clyde Robideau v. Minnesota Minnesota 2023-12-14 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-rights criminal-procedure double-jeopardy judicial-discretion jury-trial jury-trial-waiver remand state-remand waiver Is a court required to obtain a renewed jury-trial waiver when the State amends its Aggravating Factor[s] after remand from State's Highest Court, and…
23-5565 William E. Wells, III v. Florida Florida 2023-09-13 Denied IFP aggravating-factors apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment mental-illness proportionality-review Whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Eighth Amendment
22-6879 Bobby O. Williams v. Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District Illinois 2023-02-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP aggravating-factors due-process fair-warning judicial-expansion jury-determination jury-findings retroactivity sentencing-review statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the court's resolution represents an unforeseeable and retroactive judicial expansion of narrow and precise statutory language that denied pet…
22-6488 John F. Mosley v. Florida Florida 2023-01-09 Denied IFP aggravating-factors apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing constitutional-rights due-process mitigating-circumstances mitigating-evidence reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona Whether excluding evidence of a history of sexual abuse in Mr. Mosley's family of origin was contrary to Eddings v. Oklahoma
22-348 Floyd Tayler v. Washington Washington 2022-10-13 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) aggravating-factors criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing domestic-violence jury-instruction jury-instructions pattern-aggravator reasonable-doubt statutory-interpretation unanimity Must the jury be unanimously instructed to find each underlying domestic violence incident beyond a reasonable doubt?
22-5088 Norman Blake McKenzie v. Florida Florida 2022-07-13 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process fourteenth-amendment jury-trial reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Whether the failure to require the jury, and the jury alone, to find that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors, beyond and to the…
21-8187 Jesse Bell v. Florida Florida 2022-06-21 Denied IFP aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing constitutional-standard due-process mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona standard-of-proof Whether the Due Process Clause requires the additional determinations under Florida's capital sentencing scheme to be made beyond a reasonable doubt
21-8042 Etheria Verdell Jackson v. Florida Florida 2022-06-02 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty hurst-v-florida jury-recommendation jury-trial sixth-amendment sixth-amendment-right Whether a jury's advisory recommendation of death which does not identify the specific aggravators found, nor whether the aggravators were found unani…
21-7794 Paul C. Bolin v. Ron Broomfield, Warden Ninth Circuit 2022-05-06 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-punishment habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance jury-discretion mitigation mitigation-evidence prejudice-analysis prejudice-standard strickland-standard strickland-v-washington Whether a state or federal habeas court may reasonably conclude that a crime is so aggravated that no mitigation could persuade even one juror to vote…
21-6654 Donald H. Davidson, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2021-12-17 Denied IFP aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-punishment capital-sentencing due-process hurst-v-florida mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona sentencing-determination Whether the Due Process Clause requires the additional determinations under Florida's capital sentencing scheme to be made beyond a reasonable doubt b…
21-6429 Randall T. Deviney v. Florida Florida 2021-11-24 Denied IFP aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing criminal-procedure due-process eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment functional-elements hurst-v-florida ring-v-arizona Whether the Due Process Clause requires additional determinations under Florida's capital sentencing scheme to be made beyond a reasonable doubt
21-5755 Kevin L. Frost v. Kansas Kansas 2021-09-22 Denied IFP 14th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-rights due-process mitigating-factors sentencing sentencing-procedure Whether the sentencing court's improper weighing of mitigating and aggravating facts at sentencing resulted in a violation of the petitioner's due pro…
21-5672 Wayne C. Doty v. Florida Florida 2021-09-14 Denied IFP aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing due-process jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona Whether the Due Process Clause and right to a jury trial require additional determinations under Florida's capital sentencing scheme to be made beyond…
21-5280 Robert Craft v. Florida Florida 2021-08-03 Denied IFP aggravating-factors alleyne-v-united-states apprendi-v-new-jersey capital-sentencing constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process hurst-v-florida reasonable-doubt ring-v-arizona Whether the Due Process Clause requires the determination that sufficient aggravating factors exist to justify imposing a death sentence to be made be…
20-7988 Robert Allen Poyson v. Arizona Arizona 2021-05-11 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-sentencing causal-nexus constitutional-review death-penalty eighth-amendment individualized-sentencing mitigation-evidence non-statutory-mitigation Is the individualized capital sentencing requirement guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment violated when a State predetermines that in all cases only min…
20-7732 Tina LaSonya Brown v. Florida Florida 2021-04-13 Denied IFP aggravating-factors appellate-review capital-sentencing constitutional-procedure death-penalty due-process ex-post-facto jury-finding jury-findings sixth-amendment Whether the Florida Supreme Court's procedure for imposing a death sentence violates the Sixth, Eighth, or Fourteenth Amendments
20-7592 Alan Eugene Miller v. Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections Eleventh Circuit 2021-03-29 Denied IFP aggravating-factor aggravating-factors caldwell-v-mississippi capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment jury-instructions jury-verdict sixth-amendment Whether the Eighth Amendment allows a jury's non-unanimous advisory verdict to serve as the predicate for a death sentence, when the jurors were told …
20-7057 Romario Waller v. Arkansas Arkansas 2021-02-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors amendment-violation constitutional-rights due-process judicial-discretion mandatory-sentencing plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-enhancement Did the Trial Judge violate Petitioner's constitutional rights
20-1062 Chad Bennett v. Washington Washington 2021-02-04 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) 14th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-challenge due-process fourteenth-amendment jury-finding jury-findings sentencing-guidelines vagueness Whether defendants may challenge aggravating factors as vague under the Due Process Clause
20-6988 Antwone Lamont Creater v. Illinois Illinois 2021-01-28 Denied IFP aggravating-factors appellate-review criminal-sentencing due-process equal-protection judicial-discretion mitigating-factors sentencing-guidelines Whether the seriousness of the offense is the most important factor for a judge to consider in fashioning a defendant's sentence, or whether the serio…
20-6303 Lamar Whatley v. Illinois Illinois 2020-11-13 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-challenge de-novo eighth-amendment ineffective-assistance judicial-discretion mitigating-factors sentencing sentencing-discretion separation-of-powers sixth-amendment Whether the separation of powers clause allows the legislature to limit the scope of judicial discretion in sentencing by deeming certain aggravating …
20-6060 Benjamin Davis Smiley, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2020-10-19 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment equal-protection fourteenth-amendment jury-determination mitigating-circumstances sentencing Does the decision of the Florida Supreme Court in Smiley v. State, 295 So.3d 156 (2020), violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishm…
19-8681 Sung Hong, et ux. v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-06-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP affinity-fraud aggravating-factors civil-rights constitutional-law due-process establishment-clause free-exercise holguin-hernandez-v-united-states plain-error-review religious-sentencing sentencing sentencing-guidelines whether-courts-can-consider-religion-as-aggravating-factor-in-sentencing
19-8660 Thomas Michael Riley v. Arizona Arizona 2020-06-10 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-punishment capital-sentencing constitutional-review death-penalty furman-v-georgia gregg-v-georgia narrowing-requirement sentencing-scheme To pass constitutional muster, must a death eligibility scheme collectively narrow the class of defendants eligible for the death penalty?
19-8473 Shawn Rogers v. Florida Florida 2020-05-15 Denied IFP aggravating-factors apprendi capital-sentencing due-process mitigating-circumstances ring-v-arizona Whether, considering the operation and effect of Florida's capital sentencing scheme, the Due Process Clause requires those latter two determinations …
19-8438 Rodney Lyn Emil v. Nevada Nevada 2020-05-12 Denied IFP aggravating-factors burden-of-proof capital-sentencing constitutional-procedure death-penalty jury-finding jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt Is Nevada's capital sentencing procedure unconstitutional after Hurst v. Florida?
19-8239 Robert Ybarra, Jr. v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. Nevada 2020-04-10 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing sentencing-procedure Did the Nevada Supreme Court violate Ybarra's constitutional rights by holding that the outweighing determination—a finding that exposed Ybarra to a g…
19-8192 John Bejarano v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. Nevada 2020-04-06 Denied IFP aggravating-factors appellate-reweighing apprendi clemons-v-mississippi constitutional-rights death-penalty jury-trial reweighing sixth-amendment Whether the Nevada Supreme Court's reweighing of aggravating and mitigating factors to uphold a death sentence violates the Sixth Amendment right to a…
19-8175 Kitrich A. Powell v. Nevada Nevada 2020-04-03 Denied IFP aggravating-factors burden-of-proof capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment Did the Nevada Supreme Court violate Mr. Powell's constitutional rights by making the outweighing requirement an afterthought for the jury, used only …
19-8090 Joseph Weldon Smith v. Nevada Nevada 2020-03-24 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment Did the Nevada Supreme Court violate Mr. Smith's constitutional rights by making the outweighing requirement an afterthought for the jury, used only t…
19-7647 William P. Castillo v. Nevada Nevada 2020-02-12 Denied Amici (1)IFP aggravating-factors appellate-review apprendi apprendi-line capital-punishment capital-sentencing clemons-v-mississippi death-penalty jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances mitigating-evidence mitigation-evidence reweighing Should this Court overrule Clemons v. Mississippi
19-697 James Dwight Pavatt v. Tommy Sharp, Interim Warden Tenth Circuit 2019-12-03 Denied Amici (2) aggravating-factor aggravating-factors arbitrary-application capital-punishment capital-punishment-sentencing capital-sentence cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus procedural-bar procedural-ruling Whether a State's application of an aggravating factor to justify the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments when it makes punish…
19-5933 Julian Alejandro Mendez v. California California 2019-09-13 Denied IFP aggravating-factors constitutional-amendments criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment trier-of-fact Whether the California death penalty scheme violates the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments by permitting the trier of fact to impose a sentence o…
18-9767 LaShawn Johnson v. Randy L. White, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-06-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process indictment jury-instruction jury-instructions Does submitting aggravating factors of a crime in a jury instruction that wasn't charged in the indictment violate Due Process
18-9464 Charles William Finney v. Florida Florida 2019-05-29 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-murder capital-sentencing death-penalty florida-constitution jury-trial jury-unanimity mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment Whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial by requiring the jury to find only aggravating factors …
18-6884 Isaiah Glenndell Tryon v. Oklahoma Oklahoma 2018-11-30 Denied IFP aggravating-factors appellate-review criminal-procedure death-penalty hurst-v-florida jury-trial mitigating-circumstances ring-v-arizona sixth-amendment Whether the Sixth Amendment prohibits a state appellate court from reweighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances and determining that death is t…
18-5937 Charles Lee Burton v. Alabama Alabama 2018-09-11 Denied IFP aggravating-factors caldwell-v-mississippi capital-sentencing capital-sentencing-scheme constitutional-review death-penalty eighth-amendment evolving-standards-of-decency hurst-v-florida jury-instructions jury-recommendation mitigating-factors Whether Alabama's capital sentencing scheme is unconstitutional under Hurst v. Florida and Caldwell v. Mississippi
18-5375 Christopher Henriquez v. California California 2018-07-27 Denied IFP aggravating-factors burden-of-proof capital-punishment constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process equal-protection jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt Whether the California death penalty scheme violates the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments
18-5174 Michael Allen Griffin v. Florida Florida 2018-07-09 Denied IFP aggravating-factors capital-murder civil-procedure civil-rights due-process ex-post-facto jury-unanimity patent retroactivity standing takings Whether Petitioner's death sentences for two 1994 homicides can remain intact given that his jury did not unanimously find the elements of capital mur…