McKinney v. Arizona
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 11, 2019
Decided February 25, 2020
Full case nameJames Erin McKinney v. State of Arizona
Docket no.18-1109
Citations589 U.S. ___ (more)
ArgumentOral argument
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh
Case opinions
MajorityKavanaugh, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch
DissentGinsburg, joined by Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan

McKinney v. Arizona, 589 U.S. ___ (2020), is a Supreme Court of the United States decision concerning how an appellate court handles sentencing after an Edding's error is identified – an error in which a person deciding a sentence in a capital punishment does not consider all mitigating evidence. It ruled that the state appellate court, rather than a jury, should reweigh the mitigating and aggravating factors in a habeas corpus review.

Background

James Erin McKinney (born June 4, 1967),[1] along with his half-brother Charles Michael Hedlund (born November 22, 1964),[1] committed two counts of burglary which resulted in two deaths.[2] After being prosecuted by the State of Arizona, McKinney was found guilty of two counts of First Degree Murder. At sentencing, a psychologist testified that he had diagnosed McKinney with post-traumatic stress disorder, with the sentencing judge stating that McKinney's childhood was “beyond the comprehension of most people.” [3] Arizona state law prevented the judge from considering this as it had no direct relevance to the crime and McKinney was thus sentenced to death.[4]

On appeal in 2018, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.[5] It was then appealed to the United States Supreme Court over disagreements on whether a judge or jury should resentence the defendant.[4][6] As of April 2021, both McKinney and Hedlund are among 20 Arizona death row inmates who have exhausted all their appeals.[7]

Decision

The Court ruled 5–4 that the state appellate court may reweigh the aggravating and mitigating factors.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "ADC Inmate Datasearch". azcorrections.gov. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008.
  2. ↑ Wolf, Richard. "Supreme Court denies new sentencing hearing for Arizona murderer". USA TODAY. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  3. ↑ "McKinney v. Arizona". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "McKinney v. Arizona". Oyez. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ Sheldon, Hon. Steven Douglas (2018). State of Arizona v. James Erin McKinney (PDF). Arizona: Supreme Court of Arizona.
  6. ↑ "NCJRS Abstract – National Criminal Justice Reference Service". www.ncjrs.gov. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  7. ↑ Jenkins, Jimmy; Goldstein, Steve (March 5, 2021). "Arizona Department Of Corrections Says It Has Lethal Injection Drugs, Ready To Resume Executions". KJZZ (FM). Retrieved April 22, 2021.
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