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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Courts - More on: SCOTUS rejects 7th Circuit ruling re Joseph Corcoran

Updating yesterday's ILB entry, Rebecca S. Green of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has a story today headed "Justices return Corcoran death-row appeal." Read the story the understand all the procedural details. From late in the story:

But Corcoran changed his mind in early 2005 and tried unsuccessfully to seek a trial court review of his case, according to court documents.

He then filed a petition in federal court but changed his mind again, saying he never wanted to appeal his sentence, according to court documents.

Against Corcoran’s wishes, Sharp overturned the death sentence, ruling that then-Allen County Prosecutor Robert Gevers inappropriately punished Corcoran by pursuing the death penalty against Corcoran after he declined to have a judge hear his case and asked for a jury trial, violating his Sixth Amendment rights.

When the 7th Circuit issued its ruling in December, it dealt only with the Sixth Amendment question, the only one dealt with by Sharp.

But in the recent ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the 7th Circuit erred by not addressing all of Corcoran’s other issues, either in its first ruling or in a later request for another hearing. The nation’s highest court ordered the appellate court to address those issues, which could come in a written ruling or after further hearings.

The case could also end up back in the U.S. District Court for Indiana’s northern district, since Sharp also passed on addressing those issues, declaring them moot. But Sharp died in July, so if the case comes back to the lower court, it would be reviewed by a new judge.

A spokesman for Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, whose office has handled the case on appeal, said it is pleased with the 7th Circuit’s original decision. “We are disappointed that additional litigation is necessary before this case can be concluded,” spokesman Bryan Corbin said, adding the decision may have added between one to three years to the case.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 21, 2009 08:46 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions