The U.S. Supreme Court will return to hear oral argu­ments in its new term on October 6. To date, the Court has grant­ed cer­tio­rari in (agreed to hear) three death penal­ty cas­es. Bell v. Kelly will be argued on November 12, 2008. This case orig­i­nat­ed in Virginia and con­cerns the scope of fed­er­al review when the state court has failed to devel­op an issue. Edward Bell claimed that his attor­ney failed to present impor­tant mit­i­gat­ing evi­dence at this sen­tence hear­ing, but this claim was not ful­ly explored in state court.

In Cone v. Bell, which will be argued on December 9, 2008, the Court will review a case from Tennessee that has been before it on two pre­vi­ous occa­sions. In the present case, the issue is whether fed­er­al courts can con­sid­er mat­ters that have been dis­missed on state pro­ce­dur­al grounds. Gary Cone claimed that his pri­or drug use should have served as a mit­i­gat­ing fac­tor at this sen­tenc­ing hear­ing. The state court dis­missed the claim for lack of evi­dence. In a pri­or case before the Supreme Court, Cone assert­ed that his tri­al attor­ney failed to pro­vide ade­quate rep­re­sen­ta­tion. The attor­ney, him­self, was suf­fer­ing from men­tal ill­ness and lat­er com­mit­ted sui­cide, but Cone’s death sen­tence was upheld.

Finally, the Court will hear Harbison v. Bell on a date to be deter­mined. This case also orginates in Tennessee and con­cerns a fed­er­al law pro­vid­ing for rep­re­sen­ta­tion in cap­i­tal cas­es. The issue is whether this rep­re­sen­ta­tion should extend to an inmate’s state clemen­cy peti­tion.

See Supreme Court.

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