- Posted December 13, 2013
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK
Kansas death sentence should not be thrown out
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a lower court in Kansas should not have overturned the conviction and death sentence of a man who said he was high on methamphetamine when he killed a local sheriff.
The high court unanimously overturned the Kansas Supreme Court's decision to throw out Scott Cheever's death sentence for the 2005 fatal shooting of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels. Wednesday's decision sends the case back to the Kansas Supreme Court for further proceedings.
The Kansas court said Cheever's Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination were violated by prosecutors who used a court-ordered mental evaluation from a different trial against him.
Cheever's own expert argued that methamphetamine use had damaged his brain. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that because Cheever's side raised the brain damage issue, prosecutors were entitled to use testimony from the mental health expert from a different trial against him. That expert said Cheever killed because of an anti-social personality, not because of brain damage.
The court agreed with Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt's argument that once Cheever's defense presented mental health issues, he was not protected from answering rebuttal questions from prosecutors.
Messages left with Cheever's attorneys seeking comment on Wednesday weren't immediately returned.
Cheever acknowledged shooting Samuels when the officer tried to serve a warrant at a rural home where meth was made. At his trial, Cheever argued that he was high on meth and incapable of premeditation when he opened fire on Samuels and four other officers.
State prosecutors initially filed the case in federal court to seek the death penalty, after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that the law was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that Kansas ruling and charges were then filed in state court seeking the death penalty.
Published: Fri, Dec 13, 2013
headlines Oakland County
- Leading role: Firm’s new CEO ‘humbled by trust placed in me’
- Oakland County teams with United Way for Southeastern Michigan to launch water affordability program
- Dept. raises awareness about the need for loving homes during Foster Care Month
- Disbarred attorney sentenced for stealing from elderly client of law firm
- Murder trial opens in death of Detroit-area teen whose disappearance led to grueling landfill search
headlines National
- Civil legal aid lawyers are often the last line of defense. Why are there so few of them?
- Bankruptcy law firm files for Chapter 11 after losing advertising dispute
- Dentons and Boies Schiller face $300M racketeering suit after client loses international arbitration
- Mother’s Day and the changing face of family dynamics and custody arrangements
- Federal judge reprimanded for handcuffing teen spectator in scared-straight approach
- Lawyer whose firm sued Boeing finds emergency slide that fell from company’s plane near his home