United States Seventh Circuit

In an appeal of a death penalty sentence, district court's denial of plaintiff's habeus petition is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the ruling that defendant could not relitigate his claims in light of the Supreme Court ruling in Atkins, which categorically banned the execution of the mentally retarded, because the lower courts had already considered evidence of defendant's mental retardation as a mitigating factor, was contrary to the holding in Atkins recognizing that there is a difference between using mental retardation as a mitigating factor and excluding mentally retarded persons from the death penalty altogether; and 2) the court correctly rejected plaintiff's argument under Eddings that he should have received a new penalty phase hearing before a jury and his argument that his statements were taken in violation of Miranda. Case is remanded to district court for an evidentiary hearing on plaintiff's Atkins claim to address whether he is mentally retarded under Indiana law.

Appellate Information

• Argued 07/25/2008
• Decided 03/11/2009
• Published 03/11/2009

Judges

• WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge., Before FLAUM, ROVNER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Alan M. Freedman, Attorney, Midwest Center for Justice, Evanston, IL, Laurence E. Komp, Law Office of Laurence E. Komp, Manchester, MO, for Petitioner-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Steve Carter, Attorney, Stephen R. Creason, Attorney, Office of the Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, for Respondent-Appellee.