mitigating-circumstances

38 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
23A772 Jorge Galindo v. Nebraska Nebraska 2024-02-23 Presumed Complete capital-sentencing death-penalty eddings-standard eighth-amendment mitigating-circumstances youthful-offender Whether a trial court's refusal to consider a defendant's youthful age as a mitigating circumstance in a capital sentencing proceeding violates the Ei…
22-7373 Victor M. Miranda-Guerrero v. California California 2023-04-26 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances apprendi-v-new-jersey constitutional-rights criminal-procedure death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances sentencing sentencing-procedure Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute violate the Fifth, Sixth and Fourte…
22-6514 Santiago Pineda v. California California 2023-01-11 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty jury-determination jury-fact-finding mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing-procedure Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute violate the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourt…
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
22-6071 Manuel Bracamontes v. California California 2022-11-16 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute violate the Fifth, Sixth and Fourte…
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
21-7929 Johnny Joe Avalos v. Texas Texas 2022-05-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP capital-murder cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment intellectual-disability life-without-parole mitigating-circumstances sentencing texas-penal-code Whether an ALWOP sentence on an intellectually disabled adult convicted of capital murder as provided by Texas Penal Code Section 12.31(a)(2) a statut…
21-6669 Robert Walter Scully v. California California 2021-12-21 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances beyond-reasonable-doubt constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances statutory-maximum Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
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…
21-5672 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…
20-1156 Alan H. Olefsky v. Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, et al. Illinois 2021-02-23 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) abuse-of-discretion administrative-discretion administrative-law agency-review disciplinary-action due-process medical-license medical-license-suspension mitigating-circumstances past-discipline Whether the IDFPR's Final Order indefinitely suspending Petitioner's medical license for two years pursuant to the first order on remand, or one year …
20-1136 Peter Capote v. Alabama Alabama 2021-02-19 Denied 6th-amendment aggravating-circumstances capital-punishment death-penalty judicial-fact-finding judicial-weighing jury-trial mitigating-circumstances sentencing-scheme sixth-amendment Whether the Alabama death penalty sentencing scheme violates a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial
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…
20-250 Mark Anthony Poole v. Florida Florida 2020-09-01 Denied aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment hurst-precedent hurst-v-florida jury-recommendation mitigating-circumstances sixth-amendment Whether the Florida Supreme Court erred in reinstating a capital sentence issued under Florida's pre-2016 scheme
19-8904 William Clyde Gibson, III v. Indiana Indiana 2020-07-06 Denied IFP death-penalty ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-circumstances post-conviction-relief strickland-standard strickland-v-washington traumatic-brain-injury wiggins-v-smith williams-v-taylor Whether the Indiana Supreme Court's opinion contravened Williams v. Taylor and Wiggins v. Smith by failing to find deficient performance where counsel…
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…
19-8175 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…
19-7973 Quincy Chisolm v. Maryland Maryland 2020-03-12 Denied IFP appeal civil-rights conspiracy conviction criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder judicial-discretion mitigating-circumstances murder sentencing trial-court-error Did the trial Court err in failing to set aside the verdict that a Conviction can the Court of Criminal Appeals to murder?
19-7649 Socorro Susan Caro v. California California 2020-02-12 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-beyond-reasonable-doubt jury-finding jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior c…
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
19-7429 Louis Mitchell, Jr. v. California California 2020-01-28 Denied IFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-circumstances aggravating-mitigating-circumstances constitutional-rights death-penalty fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury-beyond-reasonable-doubt jury-determination jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Does the mandatory weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances under the California death penalty statute—a factfinding determination that se…
19-6101 Raymond Eugene Johnson v. Tommy Sharp, Interim Warden Tenth Circuit 2019-09-30 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing death-penalty factfinder harm lockett-v-ohio mitigating-circumstances prejudice Should the Court recalibrate the frameworks for judging the prejudice or harm of capital sentencing errors in jurisdictions where the factfinder may d…
19-5394 Michael Leon Bell v. California California 2019-07-30 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances capital-punishment constitutional-procedure death-penalty due-process fourteenth-amendment jury-fact-finding jury-trial mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sentencing sentencing-standards sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme violate the requirement that every fact, other than a prior conviction, that serves to increase the statutory m…
18-9459 Trinidad Nanez-Rivera v. United States Tenth Circuit 2019-05-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process federal-common-law mitigating-circumstances sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-review substantive-reasonableness tenth-circuit within-guideline-sentences within-range-sentence Have the length of within-guideline sentences become effectively unreviewable in practice, and is Mr. Nanez-Rivera's sentence near the top of the rang…
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 …
18-9349 Robert Lee McConnell v. William Gittere, Warden, et al. Nevada 2019-05-20 Denied IFP 8th-amendment aggravating-circumstances capital-sentencing constitutional-requirement due-process jury-finding mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt Whether the Constitution requires—in a state in which a jury is required to find that mitigating circumstances do not outweigh the aggravating circums…
18-8857 Jeffrey A. Weisheit v. Indiana Indiana 2019-04-16 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-rights criminal-procedure death-penalty ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-circumstances penalty-phase strickland-standard strickland-v-washington williams-v-taylor Whether the Indiana Supreme Court contravened Strickland by acknowledging counsel made mistakes, but not finding them to be deficient performance even…
18-8753 Carl Devon Powell v. California California 2019-04-10 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances constitutional-sentencing death-penalty due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment jury jury-beyond-reasonable-doubt jury-fact-finding mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Does California's death penalty scheme violate the requirement under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments that every fact, other than a prior c…
18-8002 Brad Hunter Smith v. Arkansas Arkansas 2019-02-15 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstance aggravating-circumstances arbitrary-imposition capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment mitigating-circumstance mitigating-circumstances Whether the Arkansas Supreme Court's holding that a capital-sentencing jury permissibly declined to weigh an existent statutory mitigating circumstanc…
18-7442 Kevin Underwood v. Mike Carpenter, Warden Tenth Circuit 2019-01-16 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances apprendi-v-new-jersey beyond-reasonable-doubt capital-punishment capital-punishment-scheme capital-sentencing death-penalty due-process jury-findings jury-instructions mitigating-circumstances reasonable-doubt supreme-court-precedent tenth-circuit Whether the Tenth Circuit's decision conflicts with Apprendi v. New Jersey and Ring v. Arizona
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…
18-6882 Willie Seth Crain, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2018-11-30 Denied IFP remedies prior constitutional defects in capital which requires unanimous jury findings of aggrava advisory-sentencing-panel aggravating-circumstances caldwell-v-mississippi capital-sentencing civil-rights constitutional-error death-penalty death-penalty-sentencing due-process harmless-error Hurst-decision hurst-v-florida jury-instructions jury-role jury-unanimity mitigating-circumstances sentencing sentencing-procedure Whether the Hurst error is harmless in light of the jury's diminished sense of responsibility as an advisory panel under Caldwell v. Mississippi
18-6582 Kareem Glass v. Melissa Hainsworth, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Somerset Third Circuit 2018-11-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-rights capital-punishment constitutional-rights death-penalty due-process ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel mitigating-circumstances penalty-phase sixth-amendment waiver waiver-of-rights where-capital-counsel-induced-petitioner-into-a-waiver
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
18-5331 Ralph Simon Jeremias v. Nevada Nevada 2018-07-24 Denied IFP aggravating-circumstances confrontation-clause constitutional-standard death-penalty due-process hurst-v-florida jury-finding jury-trial mitigating-circumstances ring-v-arizona Whether the Constitution requires that the finding that mitigating circumstances do not outweigh aggravating circumstances to impose death be made bey…