Court Opinion

ID: 9413582
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-01 23:14:44.554105+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:46:16.050138
License: Public Domain

POLITZ, Chief Judge,
concurring:
I fully concur with the foregoing, adding that I share the concern voiced by the district court that a person may be executed when there effectively appears, in the words of Justice Sealia, to be “no jury verdict of guilty-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt.” Sullivan v. Louisiana, — U.S.-,-, 113 S.Ct. 2078, 2081, 124 L.Ed.2d 182, 189 (1993). With respect to the holding of James v. Cain, 50 F.3d 1327 (5th Cir.1995), regarding the availability of a Cage claim, I am mindful of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s observation that the prevailing view during the 1980s was to reject challenges to reasonable doubt instructions. State ex rel. Taylor v. Whitley, 606 So.2d 1292 (La.1992), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 2935, 124 L.Ed.2d 684 (1993).