Smith v. Mullin

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• noting importance of mitigation evidence that explains to the jury why a defendant acted as he did
• finding it significant that defendant “would understand the role of police officers and the concept of a criminal charge”
• rejecting claim that Miranda waiver of defendant who suffered from borderline mental retardation was unknowing and unintelligent despite low Grisso test scores
• observing that habeas petitioner w ill not receive review of claims “defaulted in state court on independent and adequate state procedural grounds unless [petitioner] has demonstrated cause and prejudice or a fundamental miscarriage of justice”
• finding prejudice although “[t]he jury already had evidence of [the defendant’s] impulsiveness and lack of emotional control [at sentencing],” because it “lacked . . . an explanation of how [his] organic brain damage caused [his] outbursts of violence”
• upholding waiver of a defendant with cognitive abilities similar to that of a twelve-year-old because the defendant’s poor performance on the MRCI test took place years after his interrogation and he had prior experience with the criminal justice system

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).