Court Opinion

ID: 9668113
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:02:43.525467+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:09:28.901896
License: Public Domain

Robert H. Dudley, Justice, dissenting. The petitioner has been sentenced to death. He pleads that he received the sentence of death, rather than life imprisonment without parole, solely because he did not receive the effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Death as a penalty is qualitatively different from all other punishments. It is to be imposed only after a structured exercise of discretion, which can be thwarted by incompetent representation. The petitioner’s allegations of ineffective representation, whether or not conclusory, are sufficiently serious to raise questions about a failure to present evidence which, in turn, would undermine the predicate for the structured discussion. Those questions should be rightfully answered before the petitioner is executed. I would grant the evidentiary hearing and stay the execution. I am authorized to say that Purtle, J., joins in this dissent.