Where a defendant scheduled for execution sought a writ of habeas corpus arguing that he was actually innocent and incompetent to be executed, the defendant failed to offer sufficient evidence to show actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence ...

Tagged with: Actual Innocence Death Penalty Case Habeas Relief

Where a defendant who was sentenced to death in a first-degree murder case argued that his counsel was ineffective for failing to call witnesses to testify about the defendant’s mental health at the penalty-phase retrial, the trial counsel presented strategic ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Death Penalty Case effectiveness of counsel Mitigation Evidence

Rhines v. Young (MLW No. 71946/Case No. 16-3360 – 26 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Loken, J.)

Tagged with: Criminal Law Death Penalty Case Miranda

State v. Driskill (MLW No. 67616/Case No. SC93882 – 42 pages) (Supreme Court of Missouri, Draper III, J.; Russell, C.J., Fischer, Wilson, and Teitelman, JJ., concur; Breckenridge, J., dissents in separate opinion filed; Stith, J., concurs in opinion of Breckenridge, J.)

Tagged with: Competency Criminal Law Death Penalty Case

State v. Taylor (MLW No. 59798/Case No. SC89294 – 46 pages) (Supreme Court of Missouri,  Price, C.J.; all concur) (1)Where a defendant convicted of the first-degree murder of his girlfriend and her three children argued that the trial court abused ...

Tagged with: Death Penalty Case hearsay

Wooten v. Norris (MLW No. 59596/Case No. 06-4068 – 32 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Melloy, J.) Even though an attorney, who represented a defendant convicted of murder in his post-conviction proceedings, failed to disclose his own convictions ...

Tagged with: Death Penalty Case effectiveness of counsel

Where a defendant convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death argued that his counsel was ineffective for multiple reasons including counsel’s failure to obtain a scan of the defendant’s brain, the  motion court properly denied defendant’s motion for post-conviction ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Death Penalty Case effectiveness of counsel Post-Conviction Relief