Opinion ID: 1035394
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Unconstitutional Nexus Test Claim

Text: Murdaugh next argues that, in reviewing his sentence for harmless error, the Arizona Supreme Court applied an unconstitutional causal nexus test to mitigating evidence of his drug use and delusions. Because the state post-conviction court did not address this claim, we review de novo whether the Arizona Supreme Court applied an unconstitutional test. In his petition for post-conviction relief, Murdaugh argued that both the sentencing court and the Arizona Supreme Court applied an unconstitutional nexus test. The state post-conviction court did consider and reject Murdaugh’s claim with respect to the sentencing court, a decision Murdaugh does not appeal. The state post-conviction court said nothing, however, regarding 10 Though not part of our prejudice analysis here, we note that of the nineteen Ring cases remanded for resentencing by a jury, eleven have resulted in a sentence other than death. See Justin F. Marceau, Arizona’s Ring Cycle, 44 Ariz. St. L.J. 1061, 1077 (2012). MURDAUGH V . RYAN 37 Murdaugh’s claim about the Arizona Supreme Court. Given that this claim had arguable merit, and in light of the state post-conviction court’s otherwise careful consideration and evaluation of every other claim in Murdaugh’s petition, “the evidence leads very clearly to the conclusion that a federal claim was inadvertently overlooked in state court,” thus permitting de novo review. Johnson v. Williams, 133 S. Ct. 1088, 1097 (2013). A state court violates a capital defendant’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to an individualized sentencing when it excludes or refuses to consider in mitigation evidence that lacks a causal nexus to the crime. See Smith v. Texas, 543 U.S. 37, 45 (2004) (per curiam); Tennard v. Dretke, 542 U.S. 274, 282–88 (2004). A court may, however, consider the failure to establish a causal connection between the mitigating factors and the crime “in assessing the quality and strength of the mitigation evidence.” Towery v. Ryan, 673 F.3d 933, 945 (9th Cir. 2012) (quoting Schad v. Ryan,