Post by thinkinkmesa on Apr 15, 2007 13:29:52 GMT -5
The appeal process
The trial and conviction is just the beginning of a death-row inmate's journey through the criminal-justice system, which can take years and sometimes decades. Here's how the appeal process works:
STATE APPEALS
1. State appeals court. Involves two separate appeals. One is a "direct appeal," which raises issues that arose during the trial. The other is the "post-conviction" appeal, which focuses on new evidence, DNA tests, biased jurors or other issues not raised during the trial. The direct appeal comes first in most states, but in Ohio the two appeals proceed at the same time.
2. State Supreme Court. Reviews state appeals court decisions for both the direct and the post-conviction appeal.
3. U.S. Supreme Court. Inmates may ask the court to consider any federal issues they raised in state appeals. The court rarely agrees to hear the appeals.
FEDERAL APPEALS
1. U.S. District Court. This federal court hears inmates' habeas corpus claims, which argue that they are being held in prison illegally because of constitutional flaws in their sentences or convictions. These cases typically involve claims such as shoddy work by defense lawyers or prosecutorial misconduct.
2. U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal appeals court reviews the district court's decision on the habeas corpus claims. It can uphold or reverse the lower court's decision, making this court the most important stop for inmates. The appeals court usually gets the last word because the U.S. Supreme Court rarely overturns its decisions.
3. U.S. Supreme Court. The final stop for death-penalty appeals. The court can - but rarely does - reverse lower-court rulings in capital cases.
Division in the court
Judges on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals often draw different conclusions from the same evidence and arguments. Some examples of the division on the court:
Jeffrey Lundgren and Jerome Henderson: Lundgren, a cult leader convicted of killing five followers in northern Ohio in 1989, and Henderson, convicted of killing a Cincinnati woman in 1985, were both scheduled for execution last year. They sought to stay their executions so they could join another inmate in challenging lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment. Both turned to the 6th Circuit, but only Henderson won. In Lundgren's case, a panel voted 2-1 to reject the stay, allowing Lundgren's execution. In Henderson's case, a panel voted 2-1 to postpone the execution. Judge Alan Norris, a Reagan appointee, joined Judge Eric Clay, a Clinton appointee, in voting for the stay. A lower-court judge lashed out at the seeming contradictions. "Such a lack of clarity is most troubling because when our system of law includes unexplained decision-making, it loses the legitimacy that must guide the state-sanctioned taking of any human life," wrote U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost.
John Byrd: Byrd's case split the court along liberal and conservative lines. A panel of the court voted 2-1 to reject Byrd's claim that he wasn't the man who stabbed to death Monte Tewksbury during a Cincinnati robbery in 1983. Two conservative judges, Alice Batchelder and Richard Suhrheinrich, found Byrd's claims lacked merit and the court should not interfere with the execution. "Our task ... is not to question the wisdom or propriety of capital punishment," the judges said. "Our sole responsibility is to ensure that petitioner's conviction and death sentence comport with the requirements of our Constitution." But Judge Nathaniel Jones, a Carter appointee, said prosecutors broke the rules during Byrd's trial and his lawyers performed poorly. He said those problems justified throwing out Byrd's death sentence. "A grievous breakdown has occurred," Jones wrote in his dissent. Subsequent attempts to delay the execution led to dissension on the court. Byrd was executed in 2002.
Eugene Gall Jr.: Judge Jones raised concerns in Gall's case similar to those he unsuccessfully argued in Byrd's case. But this time he had an ally on the panel in Judge Boyce Martin, also a Carter appointee. The panel voted 2-1 to throw out Gall's conviction in Boone County, Ky., for raping and murdering 12-year-old Lisa Jansen in 1978. The judges did not dispute his guilt, but they found that Gall was insane and that mistakes at his trial violated his constitutional rights. "Gall's trial, conviction and appeal contravened fundamental constitutional tenets," Jones wrote. Judge Ralph Guy Jr., a Reagan appointee, scolded his colleagues for essentially declaring Gall insane, a decision he said went beyond the 6th Circuit's authority. "The only fundamental miscarriage of justice," Guy wrote, "is the court's conclusion that despite the jury's verdict to the contrary, Gall must be found not guilty by reason of insanity." Gall was not tried again in Kentucky but now is serving 65 years in Ohio for a previous, unrelated rape and robbery.
James Earl Slaughter: A jury convicted Slaughter of stabbing to death Esther Stewart during a robbery of her Louisville consignment store in 1983. He asked the 6th Circuit to throw out his death sentence on grounds his lawyer did such a poor job investigating the case he didn't know his client's real name was Jeffrey Leonard. He reviewed no records, talked to few family members and didn't realize his client was brain-damaged. A panel ruled 2-1 against him. Alice Batchelder and Danny Boggs, among the court's most conservative judges, agreed the lawyer's performance was "deficient" but found it did not affect the outcome of his trial. Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., a Clinton appointee, accused his colleagues of turning "a blind eye to the breadth and depth" of the evidence. Slaughter asked for a full-court review but was denied when the judges deadlocked 7-7. "We are uneasy about executing anyone sentenced to die by a jury who knows nearly nothing about that person. But we have allowed it," Cole wrote in the dissent.
The trial and conviction is just the beginning of a death-row inmate's journey through the criminal-justice system, which can take years and sometimes decades. Here's how the appeal process works:
STATE APPEALS
1. State appeals court. Involves two separate appeals. One is a "direct appeal," which raises issues that arose during the trial. The other is the "post-conviction" appeal, which focuses on new evidence, DNA tests, biased jurors or other issues not raised during the trial. The direct appeal comes first in most states, but in Ohio the two appeals proceed at the same time.
2. State Supreme Court. Reviews state appeals court decisions for both the direct and the post-conviction appeal.
3. U.S. Supreme Court. Inmates may ask the court to consider any federal issues they raised in state appeals. The court rarely agrees to hear the appeals.
FEDERAL APPEALS
1. U.S. District Court. This federal court hears inmates' habeas corpus claims, which argue that they are being held in prison illegally because of constitutional flaws in their sentences or convictions. These cases typically involve claims such as shoddy work by defense lawyers or prosecutorial misconduct.
2. U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal appeals court reviews the district court's decision on the habeas corpus claims. It can uphold or reverse the lower court's decision, making this court the most important stop for inmates. The appeals court usually gets the last word because the U.S. Supreme Court rarely overturns its decisions.
3. U.S. Supreme Court. The final stop for death-penalty appeals. The court can - but rarely does - reverse lower-court rulings in capital cases.
Division in the court
Judges on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals often draw different conclusions from the same evidence and arguments. Some examples of the division on the court:
Jeffrey Lundgren and Jerome Henderson: Lundgren, a cult leader convicted of killing five followers in northern Ohio in 1989, and Henderson, convicted of killing a Cincinnati woman in 1985, were both scheduled for execution last year. They sought to stay their executions so they could join another inmate in challenging lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment. Both turned to the 6th Circuit, but only Henderson won. In Lundgren's case, a panel voted 2-1 to reject the stay, allowing Lundgren's execution. In Henderson's case, a panel voted 2-1 to postpone the execution. Judge Alan Norris, a Reagan appointee, joined Judge Eric Clay, a Clinton appointee, in voting for the stay. A lower-court judge lashed out at the seeming contradictions. "Such a lack of clarity is most troubling because when our system of law includes unexplained decision-making, it loses the legitimacy that must guide the state-sanctioned taking of any human life," wrote U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost.
John Byrd: Byrd's case split the court along liberal and conservative lines. A panel of the court voted 2-1 to reject Byrd's claim that he wasn't the man who stabbed to death Monte Tewksbury during a Cincinnati robbery in 1983. Two conservative judges, Alice Batchelder and Richard Suhrheinrich, found Byrd's claims lacked merit and the court should not interfere with the execution. "Our task ... is not to question the wisdom or propriety of capital punishment," the judges said. "Our sole responsibility is to ensure that petitioner's conviction and death sentence comport with the requirements of our Constitution." But Judge Nathaniel Jones, a Carter appointee, said prosecutors broke the rules during Byrd's trial and his lawyers performed poorly. He said those problems justified throwing out Byrd's death sentence. "A grievous breakdown has occurred," Jones wrote in his dissent. Subsequent attempts to delay the execution led to dissension on the court. Byrd was executed in 2002.
Eugene Gall Jr.: Judge Jones raised concerns in Gall's case similar to those he unsuccessfully argued in Byrd's case. But this time he had an ally on the panel in Judge Boyce Martin, also a Carter appointee. The panel voted 2-1 to throw out Gall's conviction in Boone County, Ky., for raping and murdering 12-year-old Lisa Jansen in 1978. The judges did not dispute his guilt, but they found that Gall was insane and that mistakes at his trial violated his constitutional rights. "Gall's trial, conviction and appeal contravened fundamental constitutional tenets," Jones wrote. Judge Ralph Guy Jr., a Reagan appointee, scolded his colleagues for essentially declaring Gall insane, a decision he said went beyond the 6th Circuit's authority. "The only fundamental miscarriage of justice," Guy wrote, "is the court's conclusion that despite the jury's verdict to the contrary, Gall must be found not guilty by reason of insanity." Gall was not tried again in Kentucky but now is serving 65 years in Ohio for a previous, unrelated rape and robbery.
James Earl Slaughter: A jury convicted Slaughter of stabbing to death Esther Stewart during a robbery of her Louisville consignment store in 1983. He asked the 6th Circuit to throw out his death sentence on grounds his lawyer did such a poor job investigating the case he didn't know his client's real name was Jeffrey Leonard. He reviewed no records, talked to few family members and didn't realize his client was brain-damaged. A panel ruled 2-1 against him. Alice Batchelder and Danny Boggs, among the court's most conservative judges, agreed the lawyer's performance was "deficient" but found it did not affect the outcome of his trial. Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., a Clinton appointee, accused his colleagues of turning "a blind eye to the breadth and depth" of the evidence. Slaughter asked for a full-court review but was denied when the judges deadlocked 7-7. "We are uneasy about executing anyone sentenced to die by a jury who knows nearly nothing about that person. But we have allowed it," Cole wrote in the dissent.