Death penalty upheld in child abuse case
In Lopez v. Stewart, the Ninth Circuit upheld the denial of habeas in a death penalty case out of Arizona. Lopez was convicted of child abuse and felony murder. Although there is apparently no dispute that Lopez had no intent to kill his son, the sentencing court found no mitigating factors in Lopez’s favor. The Ninth Circuit found that Lopez had received meaningful appellate review in the state court, and had failed to exhaust certain of his ineffective assistance of counsel issues. However, the Court did expand the Certificate of Appealability to include ineffective assistance with regarding to investigation and presentation of mitigation evidence.
Judge Thomas dissented, finding that both the sentencing court and the Arizona Supreme Court were objectively unreasonable in failing to consider the lack of mens rea as a specific mitigating factor.
