SCOTUS Reverses the Circuit in Bies v. Bobby

SCOTUS today reversed the Sixth Circuit in Bies v. Bobby, 08-598. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Ginsberg found that the Double Jeopardy Clause did not bar the Ohio courts from conducting a full hearing on Bies'mental retardation claim. The Court found that since Bies was attempting to vacate his death sentence, and the State was not seeking to retry him or to increase his punishment, the case did not fall into the perameters of the Double Jeopardy Clause. The Court went on to hold that the doctrine of issue preclusion, barring relitigation of issues actually determined and necessary to the ultimate outcome of a prior proceeding, did not apply. It was not clear to the Court that the issue of Bies’ mental retardation was actually determined under the Lott test at trial or on direct appeal. Further, the Court found that the state courts’ statements regarding Bies’ mental capacity were not necessary to the judgments affirming his death sentence. Curiously, Justice Ginsberg asserted the idea that mental retardation as a mitigator and mental retardation under Atkins and Lott are discrete legal issues. What is odd about this statement is that mental retardation is a medical definition, and the idea that the definition changes with the context would likely surprise the APA.

SCOTUS Grants Cert in Bies

Today, SCOTUS granted cert from the Sixth Circuit's decision in Bies v. Bobby, 06-3471. The main question presented by the government was whether double jeopardy applies to a state post conviction hearing on the defendant's mental retardation where the defendant has already been found mentally retarded in state court. Michael Bies had presented evidence of his mental retardation in mitigation, argued it on appeal, and was found to be mentally retarded in the court of appeals. When the Supreme Court's Atkins decision was announced, he filed a successor postconviction action claiming he was ineligible for execution and that the state was estopped from contesting his claim in so much as it had already conceded that he was mentally retarded in the earlier proceedings. Information on the Supreme Court litigation is available here.