Court Opinion

ID: 9873525
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-26 21:38:31.588346+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:46:38.091573
License: Public Domain

CONCURRENCE
MERRITT, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I continue to believe that the Ohio acquittal-first jury instructions in this case and many others are highly confusing. It could easily lead one or more jurors to believe that they may not excuse the defendant from the death penalty and impose life imprisonment unless they first acquit the defendant when weighing aggravators and mitigators. I have set this argument out in detail several times, most recently in a majority opinion, Mitts v. Bagley, 620 F.3d 650, 656-58 (6th Cir. 2010), rev’d sub nom. Bobby v. Mitts, 563 U.S. 395, 131 S.Ct. 1762, 179 L.Ed.2d 819 (2011); but as this citation indicates, the Supreme Court did not agree. Of course, I am now bound to follow the Supreme Court holding even though I believe its result and its reasoning are wrong.