"Death row inmate's lawyer makes last-ditch appeal" is the headline to this story today by Maureen Hayden in the Evansville Courier-Press that details the lengthy post-conviction appeals process in a death penalty case. Some quotes:
In what may be the last step in a 22-year appeals process, attorneys for Indiana death row inmate Donald Ray Wallace have turned to the U.S. Supreme Court. * * *Posted by Marcia Oddi at September 29, 2004 08:40 AMAttorney Alan Friedman described the petition to the Supreme Court as based on a "hyper-legal technical argument," based on what Friedman and Midwest Center staff believe was a legal error made by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals when it upheld Wallace's sentencing in March by a 7-4 vote. "This is not an argument based on issues of guilt or innocence,'' said Friedman. "This is an argument based on a technical issue involving a legal question." * * *
Friedman said the Supreme Court traditionally has agreed to hear few petitions for writs of certiorari, but he believes the legal issue in the Wallace case is significant enough to warrant the justices' attention.
"I think it's got a 50-50 chance,'' said Friedman.
If the Supreme Court agrees to consider the case, it would prolong Wallace's time on death row and could mean that the case would be sent back to a district court for resentencing. If the Supreme Court declines to hear the case, Wallace's appeals would be nearly exhausted. An execution date would be set and the only step left would be for Wallace's attorneys to ask the Indiana governor to spare Wallace's life by granting him clemency.