Magwood v. Patterson

• Decision Date: 24 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-158.,09-158.
• Citation: 130 S.Ct. 2788,177 L. Ed. 2d 592
• Parties: Billy Joe MAGWOOD, Petitioner, v. Tony PATTERSON, Warden, et al.
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

130 S.Ct. 2788

177 L. Ed. 2d 592

Billy Joe MAGWOOD, Petitioner, v.Tony PATTERSON, Warden, et al.

No. 09-158.

Supreme Court of United States.

Argued March 24, 2010.

Decided June 24, 2010.

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Jeffrey L. Fisher, Stanford, CA, appointed by this Court, for petitioner.

Corey L. Maze, Solicitor General, Montgomery, AL, for respondents.

Troy King, Attorney General, Corey L. Maze, Solicitor General, Counsel of Record, Beth Jackson Hughes, J. Clayton Crenshaw, Assistant Attorneys General, Office of the Alabama Attorney General, Montgomery, AL, for respondents.

James A. Power Jr., Marguerite Del Valle, Power Del Valle LLP, New York, NY, Thomas C. Goldstein, Akin, Gump, Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Washington, DC, Jeffrey L. Fisher, Counsel of Record, Pamela S. Karlan, Stanford Law School, Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Stanford, CA, Amy Howe, Kevin K. Russell, Howe & Russell, P.C., Bethesda, MD, for petitioner.

Justice THOMASdelivered the opinion of the Court, except as to Part IV-B.

PetitionerBilly Joe Magwood was sentenced to death for murdering a sheriff.After the Alabama courts denied relief on direct appeal and in postconviction proceedings, Magwood filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in Federal District Court, challenging both his conviction and his sentence.The District Court conditionally granted the writ as to the sentence, mandating that Magwood either be released or resentenced.The state trial court conducted a new sentencing hearing and again sentenced Magwood to death.Magwood filed an application for a writ of...