"U.S. Supreme Court to hear 2nd Kansas death penalty appeal," is the Wichita Eagle report by Hurst Laviana.
For the second time since the state’s capital murder law was reinstated in 1994, the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a death sentence that was overturned by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the nation’s highest court will decide whether the state Supreme Court acted properly when it overturned the death sentence imposed on Scott Cheever, who was convicted of the 2005 murder of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.
The state court overturned Cheever’s conviction in August, ruling that prosecutors violated his right against self-incrimination when they allowed an expert witness to testify about the results of a mental exam that Cheever was required by a judge to take.
The Fifth Amendment does not prevent a judge from ordering a defendant to submit to a mental exam, the state court ruling said, but it does prevent the state from using the exam against the defendant at trial.
When he announced in September that he was appealing that ruling, Schmidt said he didn’t think the state court ruling correctly reflected the requirements of the Fifth Amendment.
The case is Kansas v. Cheever (12-609.)
The AP filing is, "High court to review Kansas sheriff's killing," via the Seattle Times.
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider reinstating the conviction and death sentence of a man who said he was high on meth when he killed a Kansas sheriff.
The justices on Monday said they will review a state Supreme Court ruling that granted a new trial to Scott Cheever, who admitted to shooting Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.
The Kansas court said Cheever's rights were violated during his trial because a psychiatrist was allowed to testify about Cheever's psychological records without his consent.
"U.S. justices agree to weigh defendant's self-incrimination claim," is the Reuters' post by Lawrence Hurley, via the Chicago Tribune.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider whether a criminal defendant's right against self-incrimination is violated when a psychiatrist who examined him testifies about his mental state.
And:
The legal question is whether Cheever's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was violated when the state called a psychiatrist who had examined Cheever to testify in order to rebut the claim that the defendant was incapable of rational thought.
The psychiatrist's testimony was based in part on what Cheever had said to him during the evaluation. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in Cheever's favor.
Oral argument and a decision are expected in the U.S. Supreme Court's next term, which begins in October and runs until June 2014.
Courthouse News Service posts, "Justices to Look at Meth User's Competency Exam," by Barbara Leonard.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to resolve two issues related to the case:
"1. When a criminal defendant affirmatively introduces expert testimony that he lacked the requisite mental state to commit capital murder of a law enforcement officer due to the alleged temporary and long-term effects of the defendant's methamphetamine use, does the state violate the defendant's Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination by rebutting the defendant's mental state defense with evidence from a court-ordered mental evaluation of the defendant?
"2. When a criminal defendant testifies in his own defense, does the State violate the Fifth Amendment by impeaching such testimony with evidence from a court-ordered mental evaluation of the defendant?"
Earlier coverage of Scott Cheever's case begins at the link. Thanks to Donna Schneweis for circulating.
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